Black -Eyed Pea Dip

Here is a quick and easy dip for your New Years Day.

4 cups of canned black-eyed peas, drain off the juice.
1 cup of diced cooked ham
1 cup tomato juice
1/2 cup of finely chopped onions
4 once can of chopped green chilies
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
4 onces of cheese spread
2 drops of tabasco sause

Combine Ham and Peas on a blender. Blend well.

Put the blended ham and peas into a sausepan and add the tomato juice, chopped onion, green chilies, and garlic.

Heat untill very hot, stirring well.

Add the cheese and tabasco sause.


Stir untill cheese melts, serve in a chafing dish with Taco or Frito chips.

This dip is also great with veggies.

Mushroom Barley Soup

Be sure to have both freezer containers and labels on hand.

If your container supply is running low, once the soup is frozen, turn it out into a freezer-strength plastic bag and put back into the freezer.

Mushroom Barley Soup

Makes eight servings:
1 ounce (30 g) dried mushrooms (such as porcini)
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) boiling water
2 teaspoons (10 ml) vegetable oil
1 large onion,
chopped2 large celery stalks, diced
1 cup (250 ml) diced carrots
1 parsnip, diced
2 cups (500 ml) sliced button mushrooms (about 1/2 pound/ 500 g)
3/4 cup (175 ml) pearl barley
8 cups (2 L) low-salt beef, chicken or vegetable broth
Salt and freshly ground pepper

In a medium bowl, pour boiling water over dried mushrooms. Soak for 25 minutes.

Chop soaked mushrooms and set aside. Strain soaking liquid through a cheesecloth-lined strainer or a coffee filter and set aside the liquid.

Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until soft, about five to seven minutes. Add celery, carrots, parsnip and mushrooms and sauté another five minutes. Add barley, chicken or vegetable broth and reserved mushroom liquid.

Bring to a boil and simmer, covered and stirring occasionally, for about one hour, or until barley is tender. If a thicker soup is preferred, cook for an extra half-hour. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Per serving nutritional information:
Calories: 150
Protein: 10 grams
Fat: 2 grams
Carbohydrate: 24 grams
Dietary Fibre: 5 grams

Rosie Schwartz is a Toronto-based consulting dietitian and is author of the 10th anniversary edition of The Enlightened Eater

Vegetable Broths

Here are a few tips for your stockpot:

Rather than purchasing boneless chicken breasts, remove the bones yourself and accumulate them in the freezer for stock making.

If you're less skilled with the boning knife, keep in mind that leaving a little meat on the bones will only add to the taste.

When you've collected enough chicken bones, cook up a batch of chicken stock by adding flavour-boosting additions like carrots, parsnips, celery, onions and fresh herbs.

If the taste seems to be diluted, rather than adding salt, remove the lid from the pot, allowing the broth to concentrate and become more flavourful.

Freeze and use as needed. If you are cooking for a small family or for two or just yourself, freeze in smaller proportions with the date and the name of the broth on the frezzer package. This way you can whip up a meal in no time.

Making vegetable broths is a terrific way to empty your vegetable bin. Carrots, celery, parsnips, onions, garlic, mushrooms, tomatoes, potatoes -- along with herbs like parsley and dill -- are just a few examples of those foods that can be simmered together for a rich-tasting broth.

Avoid those with strong tastes or aromas, such as cabbage. Save the trimmings or odds and ends from different vegetables such as Shiitake or Portabello mushrooms in a container in the freezer and add to the stockpot.

For a meatier vegetable broth, add a few black Chinese mushrooms. Soak them first in boiling water to remove any grit.
Strain the soaking liquid and then add to the broth as well. These mushrooms, found in Asian grocery stores, are cheaper than other dried mushrooms.
Simmer the broth over a low heat for a few hours and cool slightly before straining and store.

Roasting vegetables on a baking sheet until they're tender and then adding them to a broth can produce a soup to savour.

Don't waste valuable cooking time preparing only small amounts of long cooking soups. In some cases, where small amounts of various vegetables may be called for, cook up a second pot at the same time.

Soup Making

Soup making is fast becoming a disappearing art.

These days, there's nary a sign of a stockpot in many kitchens. Packages with dry ingredients along with their canned cousins have replaced the standard aromatic, long-simmering homemade soup of yesteryear.

Reclaiming the stockpot will not only pleasure the palate, it may also provide a number of health perks. In the cold, dark months of winter when stick-to-the ribs fare is most appealing, avoiding the accumulation of excess body padding can be tough.
Soup, however, can kill two nutritional birds with one stone.

Soup tames appetite:

Research from Pennsylvania State University shows that soup is a super way to tame hearty appetites.
In the study, scientists compared the effect of three meals containing the same number of calories and ingredients on the amount of food eaten later in the day.

Having a chicken rice casserole with or without water resulted in the same number of calories being consumed later in the day.
When the water was incorporated into the casserole to make a soup, the result was less food being eaten.
Adding chunky vegetables may make the job even easier according to French research. Strained or pureed soups were found to have less of an effect on curbing appetites than those with larger pieces.
If you're looking for help with waist management, put away your food processor when cooking up soup.

Less salt content

Homemade options offer other advantages as well, especially when it comes to sodium counts. Many commercial offerings are laden with salt and may lack intense flavours. And all too often selections labelled 'sodium- reduced' are anything but low in sodium.

But they can be used as a foundation. For example, simmering a cup of broth and adding a cup of chopped vegetables results in less sodium per cup serving. It's also a tasty way of boosting your vegetable intake.

When making chicken, beef or vegetable broths or stocks, use a variety of ingredients to provide a complexity of taste, making the lesser amounts of sodium less noticeable.

History of Sugar

500 years ago, sugar was a rare spice or medicine, imported to Europe from India.

Then it became an expensive commodity primarily produced in overseas tropical colonies.

It later grew into a less-costly commodity produced and traded among countries, and finally became a cheap everyday commodity, produced from both sugarcane and sugar beets.

By about 1970, approximately 9% of all available food calories in the world, were in the form of sucrose. No other food in world history has had a comparable performance.

Sugars

Glucose (Dextrose, Grape Sugar, or Corn Sugar). Somewhat less sweet than cane sugar and is soluble in hot or cold water. It is found in sweet fruits such as grapes, berries, and oranges and in some vegetables such as sweet corn and carrots. It is prepared commercially as corn syrup.

Grapes

Fructose (Fruit Sugar). Highly soluble. It is much sweeter than cane sugar and is found in honey, ripe fruits, and some vegetables.

Honey

Sucrose The table sugar with which we are familiar and is found in cane or beet sugar, brown sugar, molasses, and maple sugar. Many fruits and some vegetables contain small amounts of sucrose.



Lactose (Milk Sugar). Produced by mammals and is the only carbohydrate of animal origin of significance in the diet. It is about one sixth as sweet as sucrose and dissolves poorly in cold water. The concentration of lactose in milk varies from 2 to 8 per cent, depending upon the species of animal.


Maltose (Malt Sugar). Does not occur to any appreciable extent in foods. Maltose is produced in the malting and fermentation of grains and is present in beer and malted breakfast cereals, it is also used as a source of carbohydrates for some infant formulas.

Know your sugars

Sugars are one of the most misunderstood parts of our daily food supply.

Many people believe that eating sugars can lead to certain forms of sicknesses, however, research has failed to link sugars to the development or cause of any chronic disease. Even though cavities may be associated with eating sugar, cavities can also result from eating other carbohydrates including starches.

Sugars are common food ingredients that are found in many forms. Since sugars are carbohydrates, they are a contributor of calories for the body - an important energy source.

There are no nutritional differences among sugars. The body uses all types of sugars in the same way. During digestion, sugars are broken down and enter into the bloodstream. They travel through the blood stream to body cells, where they provide energy and help form proteins.

As carbohydrates, sugars are preferred as a fuel during high-intensity activity.

Sugar does not cause hyperactivity, nor does it negatively affect mental performance .

Further, no particular group of children reacts to sugars differently from the general population.
Actually, research suggests that sugars tend to calm both children and adults .

This could just go unnoticed due to other influences, such as a birthday party in which everyone is excited to begin with.

Salads that are good

Fat-busting

What could be healthier or more low fat than salad? Well, it depends what’s in it and on it. In its basic state—a bed of salad leaves with chopped vegetables, it is indeed low fat and healthy. It’s what is added to our salads that gets us into trouble.

Salads prepared at restaurants or fast-food joints are not always the healthiest dishes on the menu. And those salad kits from the grocery store, with condiments and toppings included, offer convenience but may not necessarily be low fat. The salads listed below should raise some red flags.

High Fat Salads and Dressings:

• Chef-style salads are high in saturated fat, thanks to all that meat and cheese—and that’s before we even think about the dressing.
• Cobb salads feature bacon, eggs, blue cheese, avocado and creamy dressing.
• Classic Caesar salad with its egg-based dressing, croutons and cheese is high in both fat and cholesterol.
• Taco salads, with their cheese, refried beans, guacamole, ground beef, sour cream and deep-fried shell, are an all-round nutritional nightmare.
• Greek salads are often loaded with oil and feta cheese.
• Asian salads with fried noodles and a generous sprinkling of nuts.
• Dressings in general, especially ranch, blue cheese, thousand island, high oil-to-vinegar ratio vinaigrettes, and regular mayonnaise or sour cream.
  From Fiona Haynes

Healthy carbs benefit from protein, olive oil

Tweaking a healthy, high-carb diet to include a little more protein or healthy oils can further curb the risk of heart disease, say researchers who had volunteers try three variations of the same diet.

The findings do not mean you should gorge on meat or that carbs should be shunned.

The study – involving 159 adults with borderline or mild high blood pressure – found the best results, however, with diets that replaced some carbohydrates with protein such as nuts and dairy, or with healthy fats, such as olive oil.

All three diets were low in saturated fats and required plenty of fruits and vegetables, and all improved blood pressure and cholesterol readings.


Adopting any of them would be beneficial – and a big change for most North Americans, said lead researcher Dr. Lawrence Appel of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

“Most people aren't following anything close to any of these,” he said, adding that the bottom line is: “You can eat healthy in three different ways, and two of them are a bit better than the other.”

All participants tried each of the diets for six weeks, eating meals prepared in a research kitchen and taking a few weeks' break before starting the next diet.

The volunteers' average blood pressure was borderline high – 131 over 77 before starting the study. It fell by an average of about 8 points while they were on the carbohydrate diet, 9.5 points on the protein diet and 9.3 points on the healthy fats diet.

Levels of LDL cholesterol, the bad kind, measured 129 on average at the start; 100 is considered optimal. LDL levels fell an average of almost 12 points on the carb diet, about 14 points on the protein diet and about 13 points on the healthy fats diet.

Those reductions most likely would translate into less heart disease if the diets were widely adopted, the researchers said.

They estimated that for every 100 people with mild high blood pressure, there would be one less heart attack over 10 years for those on the protein or healthy fats diet, compared with the more carb-friendly diet.

The study, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, was prepared for presentation Tuesday at an American Heart Association conference in Dallas and is published in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.

A JAMA editorial about Dr. Appel's research questioned whether people in the real world would stick to the diets, since they would have to buy and prepare their own meals.

“Longer trials examining actual cardiovascular event outcomes will be needed to convince a skeptical public of the benefit of yet another unique and difficult-to-achieve dietary regimen,” editorial author Dr. Myron Weinberger of Indiana University said.

Dr. Eva Obarzanek, a co-author and researcher at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, said the results show people “don't have to be restricted. If they have a certain preference, they should know that they can follow any of these.

“None of these diets are extreme,” she said. “These are well-rounded studies.”

Rachel Johnson, a University of Vermont nutrition professor, said the results refine “what we already know. It's not a huge about-face.”

In the same edition of the Journal, a study found that high doses of the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor were no better at preventing recurrent heart attacks and heart-related deaths than regular doses of the competing drug Zocor. The study was funded and conducted by Lipitor's maker Pfizer Inc.

By Lindsay Tanner

Posted in the Globe and Mail

Controlling What You Eat

Watch that plate, is it to full?

Among the biggest criticisms of the old pyramid was that while it may have suggested what to eat, it never really told us how much.

We can't get into too much trouble in categories like fruits and vegetables, where many Americans ran amok was in the section labeled "grains."

People just didn't know what a whole grain was, so they ended up eating a ton of white bread, white rice, and pasta, all the time thinking they were doing the right thing.


The New Pyramid guidelines clearly spell out that of the 8 ounces of grains needed every day, at least half should be whole grains, foods like oatmeal, whole-grain bread, brown rice, and whole-grain cereals.

Nutritionist Samantha Heller, MS, RD, a senior clinical nutritionist at NYU Medical Center in New York.

Technologically Challenged?

For those who don't have access to a computer, the government says they will release an old-fashioned pen and pencil version we can all use to calculate what our food intake should be.


While the algorithm used to determine our food intake is under some scrutiny.

The requirements for a man in his mid-40s, for example, can be identical to that of his 15 year old son.

Experts say the overall message here is a good one.

Namely, that we need to take an individual look at what and how much we are eating.

Sometimes we try to make things to complicated with all of the infomation that is out there.

The basic thing is, we are eating more than we need, and as a result we are getting to be a much heavier society, with not enough exersize to burn off the extra calories we are putting into our bodies.

They were trying to be adaptable, and that's always a difficult thing when you are dealing with millions and millions of people.

The Fruit and Veggie Challenge

Experts help you learn just what you need to know,to stay within the government's new food guidelines.



"Have a bowl of oatmeal cereal for breakfast and you have two servings.

Eat your lunch on two slices of whole wheat bread and you have two more servings. you've made your whole-grain requirement for the day.

Once you've figured out how much of each food group you need each day, you can figure out how to meet these requirements. And meeting these requirements may also be easier than you think.

"Most people eat at least a cup of salad at a time, so if you eat one with lunch, you've got two servings of vegetables; add a half cup of another vegetable with dinner and you are there."

For breakfast, she suggests drinking just 4 ounces of a whole juice. grab an apple for an afternoon snack, which can fill your fruit requirement for the day.

"It's really not that difficult if you just stop to think about it,"

That, is precisely what the new pyramid was designed to help us do.

The 'real life' take-home message is to make wise food choices, whenever possible opting for the most nutrient dense foods.

Watch your portion sizes, and get some exercise every day. That's all you really need to remember.

Pyramid message 2

The second new message:

No single eating plan is right for all people.

While getting that point across now involves navigating through 12 different pyramids .

For men, women, and children of varying weights and ages , experts say the suggestion here is simpler than it seems.

"The basic message is that not all people need the same amount of food.

For example, if you are overweight then you need to consume less food than someone your same age and gender who is not overweight.

To help us figure out which pyramid has our name on it, the web site offers a program, found at http://my.webmd.com/click?url=http://www.mypyramidtracker.gov.

Here you enter your age, weight, sex, and activity level, to find out what you need to eat as well as track it.
Or you can simply go to WebMD's special report on The New Food Pyramid and check out the charts and information on each food group to help you figure out how much you should eat each day

10,000 Steps a day

The Food Pyramid:

If there is one new message today's pyramid is shouting the loudest, it's that we should not view a healthy diet in terms of food alone.

While experts have always touted the benefits of exercise.

The new pyramid, complete with a figure running up the side over a set of steps, is there to remind us that healthy eating and exercise are now married for life.

Essentially the message here is move your body.

The goal is to remind us of the importance of making movement a part of our everyday life and not just something we reserve for an hour once or twice a week at a gym," says Jyni Holland, MS, RD, co-author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Weight Loss Tracker.

While for most people even just the word "exercise" conjures up images of expensive equipment and pricey personal trainers.

Getting in our now-requisite quota of "daily moves" does not have to mean plunking down big bucks to sweat in a room filled with perfect strangers.

"The goal is for each of us to take 10,000 steps a day -- and you can do that by simply getting off the bus two blocks before your stop, taking the stairs for a few flights, and bypassing the parking spot closest to the mall and looking for a space three or four rows back.

Even doing routine housework like washing windows or vacuuming or mowing the lawn or pulling weeds -- these are the 'real life' ways to incorporate exercise into our daily living.

A pedometer can keep track of your number of steps and help motivate you to keep going.

New Food Guide confusing?

Unfortunately, make just one visit to www.mypyramid.gov and you'll soon discover that making your food choices might seem like it's easier said than done.

Indeed, among the criticisms that surfaced since the pyramid debuted is that the new system is simply too confusing to be of much use.

"The new design does not clearly communicate which foods Americans should be eating more of (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, lean meat, and beans), or what Americans should be eating less of (refined grains, whole milk, cheese, hamburgers, and soda).

"I think it's immediately more confusing and a little hard for some people, but I think that years down the road it will prove beneficial," Nonas tells WebMD

At the same time, other experts say that by mastering just a little bit of a learning curve, all Americans can gather some vital data from the pyramid.

The information from the pyramid just might help us turn around some nasty eating habits, as well as our burgeoning obesity epidemic.

food guide colors

The Rainbow of Colors

These specifics include brightly colored vertical stripes, each representing one of six food groups:
Grains (orange -- and the widest stripe),
Vegetables (green),
Fruits (red),
Oils (yellow -- and the thinnest stripe),
Milk -- including most foods made from milk (blue),
Meat & beans (purple).


The stripes are also engineered to be wider at the bottom and narrower at the top, ostensibly to drive home the idea that not all foods within that group are of the same value.

"The idea is to make us aware of not only food groups, but choices within those groups," says Nonas, who points out that an apple pie and an apple might fall within the same food group but not have equal nutritional value.

New Food Guide

They've tossed it on its side and added a rainbow of colors.

But that's just the beginning of the changes for the U.S. government's new Food Pyramid.

But if you're like many of us, you may be wondering, "What was wrong with the old pyramid?"

Is everything they told us before no longer true?

The good news is that experts say the new guidelines themselves are quite similar to the old, with the graphic changes in the pyramid simply being more representational of what those guidelines are.

"There was nothing wrong with the old pyramid, except that it left too much open for interpretation.

The new pyramid is more specific and more reflective of what the guidelines actually say," says nutritionist Cathy Nonas, MS, RD, director of diabetes and obesity programs at North General Hospital in Harlem, N.Y.

Anatomy of a Cherry

It may taste sinfully decadent, but this fat-free ruby-red fruit is low in calories (one cup has just 90), and packed with fiber and vitamin C.

Adding fruit, such as cherries, to your diet can help lower blood pressure and risk of stroke.

That's because they are naturally sodium-free and a good source of potassium -- 1 cup provides about 9% of our RDA.

Another bonus:

Cherries have two kinds of phytonutrients -- quercetin and anthocyanidin -- both of which are powerful antioxidants.

Did you know there are two distinct cherry species?

Sweet cherries are the ones you buy fresh in the market, tart are typically canned or frozen and pie-ready.

Shake a tart cherry tree during its short fruiting season and you'll have some 7,000 cherries -- enough for about 28 pies.

Fruit Alternative
Grab an apple, another great source of phytonutrient antioxidants and fiber. Bonus: Apples contain the mineral boron, which boosts bone health.

Cran-Cherry Cooler
Makes 2 smoothies
1 cup reduced-calorie cranberry juice cocktail1 cup frozen or fresh pitted cherries
1 cup raspberry sorbet or sherbet
6 ounces low-fat vanilla yogurt
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed1-2 cups ice cubes or crushed ice

1. Add all ingredients in a blender or large food processor.
2. Blend on highest speed until smooth, about 10 seconds.
Scrape sides of blender and turn on blender for 5 seconds more.
3.Pour into two glasses and enjoy!

Per smoothie: 296 calories, 6 g protein, 61 g carbohydrate, 4 g fat, 6 mg cholesterol, 6 g fiber, 63 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 12%.

SOURCE: The Flax Cookbook by Elaine Magee, MPH, RD

Lighten up your cooking by going to http://www.webmd.com/

Phantom Cooks

Times have certainly changed.
Home cooking used to involve thawing meat, peeling and slicing vegetables and planning on the time it takes for everything to cook.

These days - so many recent television commercials would have us believe - home cooking is as easy as pouring a bag of frozen “Pot Roast with Vegetables” into a frying pan to reheat.

Or pulling a package of freeze-dried “shelf” noodles out of the pantry and heating some water.

Have We Really Forgotten How to Cook?

The answer is, in part, “yes.”

According to “Supermarket Guru” Phil Lempert, the food consumer in 2003 is “a shopper with no time and no cooking skills.”

In spite of increased sales of gourmet ingredients, kitchen gadgets and cookbooks, almost 2/3 of the American population (representing a variety of ethnic groups, backgrounds and generations) can no longer tell the difference between “cooking” a meal and “assembling” it.

Why?
There was no one to teach them.

The average shopper today, Lempert says, likely never learned to cook or saw a parent make a meal from scratch.

And with so many meal options - fast food, supermarket meals, and “healthier” fully-prepared restaurant meals available for delivery - why would anyone learn?

IN THE HOLE! Golf

Healthy eating

Make healthy eating and physical activities fun!

Take advantage of physical activities you and your friends enjoy doing together and eat the foods you like.

Be adventurous - try new sports, games, and other activities as well as new foods.
Try some of the recipies from other cultures, French cooking with different wines as well as Italian, Asian, and from other countries you have never tried. It can be fun as well as educational.

You'll grow stronger, play longer, and look and feel better!

Set realistic goals - don't try changing too much at once.

Eating is like a Puzzle

A healthy eating style is like a puzzle with many parts.

Each part, or food, is different.
Some foods may have more fat, sugar or salt, while others may have more vitamins or fibre.

There is a place for all these foods.
What makes a diet good or bad is how foods fit together.
Balancing your choices is important.

Fit in a higher-fat food, like pepperoni pizza, at dinner by choosing lower-fat foods at other meals. And don't forget about moderation. If two pieces of pizza fill you up, don't eat a third.

Carbohydrates vs proteins

If you have been watching the new lately you will have seen that another fad has bit the dust, the High protein Diets has fallen into disrepute and the promoter is going bankrupt.
This Diet has done a lot of damage to a lot of people, health wise.
They had a great Marketing scheme going and a pile of people looking for the quick fix to weight problems got caught in the hype.

It seems that we have to go back to the old tried and true method.

Eat more grains, fruits, and vegetables.

These foods give you carbohydrates for energy, plus vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Besides, they taste good! Try breads such as whole-wheat, bagels, and PITA. Spaghetti and oatmeal are also in the grain group.

Join in physical activities at school or where ever you are.

Whether you take a physical education class or do other physical activities at school, such as intramural sports, structured activities are a sure way to feel good, look good and stay physically fit.

Nutrients for your Body

Balance your food choices

Don't eat too much of one thing.

You don't have to give up foods like hamburgers, french fries, and ice cream to eat healthfully.

You just have to be smart about how often and how much of them you eat.

Your body needs nutrients like protein, carbohydrates, fat, and many different vitamins and minerals such as vitamins C and A, iron, and calcium from a variety of foods.


Stay in shape, get out with friends or family.

Being active is much more fun with friends or family.

Encourage others to join you and plan one special physical activity event, like a bike ride or hiking, with a group each week.

Healthy Life Choices

Snack Smart

Snacks are a great way to refuel.

Choose snacks from different food groups - a glass of low-fat milk and a few graham crackers, an apple or celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins, or some dry cereal.

If you eat smart at other meals, cookies, chips, and candy are okay for occasional snacking.



Work up a sweat

Vigorous work-outs, when you're breathing hard and sweating, help your heart pump better, give you more energy and help you look and feel your best.

Start with a warm-up that stretches your muscles. Include 20 minutes of aerobic activity, such as running, jogging or dancing.

Follow-up with activities that help make you stronger such as push-ups or lifting weights. Then cool-down with more stretching and deep breathing.

Healthy Life Style Tips

1. Start Your Day With Breakfast

Breakfast fills your "empty tank" to get you going after a long night without food. Eating a good breakfast can help you do better in school.

Easy to prepare breakfasts include: cold cereal with fruit and low-fat milk, whole-wheat toast with peanut butter, yogurt with fruit, whole-grain waffles or even last night's pizza.

2. Get Moving

It's easy to fit physical activities into your daily routine.

Walk, bike or jog to see your friends.

Take a 10 minute activity break every hour while you read, do homework or watch TV.

Climb stairs instead of taking an escalator or elevator. Try to do these things for a total of 30 minutes every day.

Shop For Groceries Alone

There are pluses and minuses to shopping with your kids.


Do most of your major shopping with out the kids, but make a point to take them on short shopping trips to teach them which foods are healthy.

Teach them the value of healthy foods and which foods to ignore.

It takes time and effort to do this but you will be surprised at how fast they learn what is good for them and what is not so good.

This does not stop them from wanting the latest thing seen on TV.

Teach them how to read a label and what to look for, they will enjoy the use of this new skill but be patience with them as they will take some time.

Make sure they are well fed before you take them shopping, this is a good job for dad.

If possible take them early saterday morning, for a period of no more that 30 minutes.

When You Take Your Groceries HomeTo keep your foods fresh, take them home and refrigerate or freeze your purchases right away. Be sure to throw out any food that is too old to eat.

Red Meat and Poultry Shopping

When you shop for meat, choose wisely.

Seafood and fish contain the healthy oils we need. Fish should have a fresh smell and firm flesh.

Read the labels of packaged red meats, some may be "enhanced" with injected water, flavorings, and preservatives that you don't need.

Poultry is often a good choice, but remember that grocery store birds usually have a lot of fat.

Meat color is not the best indicator of it's freshness. Pay attention to the odor and the feel of the meat.

It should smell fresh, and not be sticky or slimy. Check the date on the label as well.

You may wish to check out the local butcher shops. Look for shops that carry organic meats, or at least meat from animals that were raised on grass or free-range.

If your grocery store has a bakery, chose real whole grain breads, not white breads. Leave the pastries alone. Stay away from the snack aisle and the soda aisle.

did you know?

When a source of Vitamin C (orange, lemon, grapefruit, strawberry, tomato, potato, etc.) is eaten with meat or cooked dry beans, the body makes better use of the iron in the protein food.

Fruits and Vegetables

Choose fruits and vegetables that are firm, ripe, and unblemished

Look out for mold, especially on berries and produce packed tightly together in small boxes.

Avoid potatoes that have a green tint to their skins. Store them in a cool dry place.

Buy only the amount of produce you need for a few days so the fresh produce does not go bad in your refrigerator.

If you can't find the fresh produce you need, or you need to store for a longer time, you should buy frozen fruits and vegetables rather than canned foods.

Frozen foods hold their food nutrition better, and contain less sodium than canned foods.

Healthy Shopping

Eat before you go Shopping.

Make a list and take it with you to the store (sometimes we make the list and forget it, then we try to remember what was on it and come home with some of the stuff we already have).

If you shop when you are hungry, you are more prone to make impulse purchases that may not be healthy.

Having a list when you shop is good because it keeps you focused on the healthy foods you need.

When you make your list, plan the meals you want to prepare for the next few days.

Look around your kitchen to see what you have on hand, and write down all the healthy foods and ingredients you need.

The healthiest foods such as fresh produce and unprocessed meats tend to be placed around the perimeter of the store, while the unhealthy processed foods are usually in the middle aisles.

Cooking, is it done?

Many factors affect baking times:

The temperature of the ingredients. Whether the pan is shiny or dull. The accuracy of your oven. (buy an oven thermometer and check at low, medium and high temps, note the results in your favorite cook book)

Since it's impossible to give exact baking times, a good recipe gives a range of time.

Check early.

A few minutes of extra cooking can make the difference between brownies that are moist and those that are dry and crumbly.

Or a roast that's moist and tender, and meat that's tough and chewy, simply because it has been overcooked

So cookbooks are wonderful, but there's much that recipes don't tell you about cooking.

Understanding how ingredients interact and the logic behind techniques helps you cook successfully.
Once you know what makes a recipe work, you can fill in the gaps yourself.

If you are already accomplished in the kitchen, understanding the science behind cooking is the ideal foundation for making changes and creating new recipes.

Cooking Weather

Your surroundings may affect the final product.

Recipes for meringues, for instance, made by beating egg whites with sugar, look simple. They go together very easily.

It also helps to know that they're best made on dry days.

Sugar dissolves into the egg whites as you beat them.

Then as sugar attracts moisture from the air, you'll notice little beads of syrup form on the surface of the baked meringue.

If meringues sit on the counter on a humid afternoon, or if they're stored in the damp atmosphere of your refrigerator, they can become as sticky as the weather.

Low Fat Muffins

Those low-fat muffins look great in the photo and the instructions simply say to "stir the ingredients together." And so you do.

In fact, you give the batter a little extra stir so those muffins will be even better.

What the recipe doesn't tell you is that stirring develops gluten, which gives strength and elasticity to batters and doughs.
While these qualities are important in doughs made with yeast, strength and elasticity are not desirable in quick breads.

Muffins and biscuits need a tender framework that rises quickly as baking soda and baking powder give off carbon dioxide.

Stirring is even less optimal in low-fat, low-sugar baked goods, because both sugar and fat are tenderizers.
When you reduce tenderizers, keep structure-builders to a minimum too. In this case, stir as little as possible after the flour is added.


http://www.exploratorium.edu/

Sugar in baking

Two of the great myths of working with food are that all recipes are good, and that flops are usually the fault of the cook.

It's a relief to learn that recipes often fail for reasons that have little to do with cooking skills.

Let's look at several factors that help guarantee success in the kitchen.
A good recipe is balanced.

In cakes, cookies, muffins, and pastry, the best recipes are cleverly designed so ingredients that tenderize don't overpower those that create structure.

When a cake flops, for instance, it's sometimes because the recipe calls for too much sugar.

While appealing to one's sweet tooth is important, too much sugar creates a batter so tender that it's too fragile to support the volume of the rising cake.

So it falls before it sets, and that has far less to do with your cooking expertise than that of the recipe writer.

Be aware that not all recipes are good recipes.



www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/icooks/7-02_article.html

Potato Soup

Potato Soup with Tarragon
Source: Better Homes and Gardens
Preperation time is about 10 min. and Cook in 20 min.

Ingredients

2 cups water,
2 cups cubedpeeled potatoes
1/2 cup sliced green onion
1 tablespoon instant chicken bouillon granules
1-1/2 teaspoons snipped fresh tarragon or 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon, crushed
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 cup buttermilk
Fresh tarragon or fresh savory (optional)
Directions
1. In a large saucepan combine water, potatoes, green onion, chicken bouillon granules, tarragon, garlic, and pepper. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 to 25 minutes or until potatoes are very tender. Cool.
2. Drain the potatoes, reserving the liquid. Mash potatoes. Gradually stir in the reserved liquid. Stir in the buttermilk. Transfer mixture to a bowl; cover and chill for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.
3. To serve, ladle chilled soup into bowls. If desired, garnish each serving with additional tarragon or savory. Makes 6 to 8 side-dish servings.

Nutritional Information

Nutritional facts per serving

calories: 68,
total fat: .5g, saturated fat:
0g, cholesterol:
1mg, sodium:
599mg, carbohydrate:
14g, fiber:
1g, protein:
2g, vitamin A:
1%, vitamin C: 10%,
calcium: 6%, iron:
2%, starch:
1 diabetic exchange

Tips on Leftovers

Always use clean utensils and storage containers for safe storage.

Divide large amounts of leftovers into small, shallow containers for quick cooling in the refrigerator.

Avoid placing large pots of gravy in the refrigerator to cool since it will likely take until the next day for this amount of food to cool.
To store in the refrigerator, wrap cooked meat in plastic wrap or aluminum foil, or store it in a tightly covered container and use within two to three days.
For frozen storage, wrap meat in aluminum foil or freezer paper and use within two to three months.
If you may have kept the food refrigerated for too long, throw it out.
Never taste food that looks or smells strange to see if you can still use it.


Reheating Foods:

Reheat thoroughly to a temperature of 165 °F or until hot and steaming. Soups and gravies should be brought to a rolling boil


BODYBUILDING PROTEIN

SAFETY TIPS FOR MEATS

If you follow these Safety Tips you should have no problem with the meat you prepare and cook.

Cleanliness:

Always wash hands thoroughly with soapy water before preparing foods and after handling raw meat.
Don’t let raw meat juices touch ready-to-go foods either in the refrigerator or during preparation.
Don’t put cooked foods on the same plate that held raw meat.
Always wash utensils that have touched raw meat with hot, soapy water before using them for cooked meats.
Wash counters, cutting boards and other surfaces raw meats have touched.
These surfaces may be sanitized by cleaning with a solution of 1 teaspoon chlorine bleach per quart of water.

Thawing:

Thaw uncooked meat in the refrigerator or in cold water. NEVER thaw meat at room temperature.

Marinating:

Marinate food in the refrigerator, not on the counter.
Discard the marinade after use because it contains raw juices, which may harbor bacteria.
If you want to use the marinade as a dip or sauce, reserve a portion before adding raw food.

Partial Cooking or Browning:

Never brown or partially cook meat, then refrigerate and finish cooking later, because any bacteria present would not have been destroyed.

It is safe to partially precook or microwave meat IMMEDIATELY before transferring it to a hot grill or oven to finish cooking.

Serving:

Hold hot foods above 140 °F and cold foods below 40 °F.

Never leave foods, raw or cooked, at room temperature longer than two hours.

On a hot day with temperatures at 90 °F or warmer, this decreases to one hour.

MICROWAVE COOKING

Safe temperatures for cooked meat

Recommended internal temperatures for Meat

Most pathogenic bacteria are destroyed between 140 °F and 160 °F. However, for best quality, meat and poultry require various temperatures for "doneness."

Ground meats must be cooked thoroughly to kill harmful bacteria.

Unlike whole muscle meat, which is sterile inside, the grinding process exposes the interior meat to bacteria on the surface, in the air, on equipment or on people’s hands.

To kill these bacteria, food safety experts have one major rule of thumb, which is to cook ground meat to at least 160 °F.

This simple step offers the best protection that consumers can have to serve ground products safely.

Rare Hambergers may be what you like, but there is good is a higher rate of food poisoning from not fully heated ground meat.

Calibration of a Thermometer

Tips for Thermometer Use:

Use an "instant-read" thermometer to check patty temperatures. They are designed to be used toward the end of cooking time and register a temperature in about 15 seconds.

If a meat patty is not thick enough to check from the top, insert the thermometer in sideways.
The thermometer should penetrate the thickest part of the food.

To check the calibration, place the stem in a cup of boiling water. If correct, it will read 212 °F. Most thermometers have a calibration nut under the dial that can be adjusted.
Wash the thermometer after each use.

Where to Stick the Thermometer

Before using a food thermometer, read the manufacturer’s instructions.

The instructions should tell how far the thermometer must be inserted in a food to give an accurate reading. Most thermometers also come with instructions on how to recalibrate the thermometer.

If instructions are not available, check the stem of the thermometer for an indention, or "dimple" that shows how deep it must penetrate the meat to get an accurate reading.

Most digital thermometers will read the temperature in a small area of the tip.

Dial types must penetrate 2 to 3 inches into the food.

Most thermometers available will give an accurate reading within 2 to 4 °F. The reading will only be helpful, however, if the thermometer is placed in the proper location in the product.

If inserted incorrectly, or if the thermometer is placed in the wrong area, the reading will not accurately reflect the internal temperature of the product.

In general, the thermometer should be placed in the thickest part of the food away from bone, fat or gristle.

For whole poultry, insert in the inner thigh. When the food being cooked is irregularly shaped, such as may be the case with a beef roast, check the temperature in several places.

Remember: After each use, wash the stem of the meat thermometer thoroughly in hot, soapy water.

Checking the meat with a Thermometer

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When should the thermometer be inserted — at the beginning of the cooking time or the end?

Inserting the thermometer will be determined by the type, ovenproof or instant-read.

The important thing is to use a meat thermometer, no matter how the food is prepared — roasted, broiled, fried.

An ovenproof thermometer may be inserted into the food at the beginning of the cooking time and remain there throughout cooking.
The temperature indicator will rise slowly as the food cooks.

Instant-read thermometers are not designed to stay in the food during cooking.

If you are using an instant-read thermometer, pull the meat or poultry out of the oven far enough to insert the stem about 2 inches into the thickest part of the food but not touching bone. The temperatures should register in about 15 seconds.

Cooking Meat and Poultry

A Meat Thermometer Can Help:
Prevent foodborne illness;
Cook foods to a safe temperature;
Prevent overcooking; and hold hot, cooked foods safely.

Use a meat thermometer EVERY time you cook raw foods; reheat leftovers; and hold hot, cooked foods for serving.

Which type of themometer is the one for your needs?

There are several types of meat thermometers available at grocery, hardware or kitchen supply stores.

The type of thermometer determines when it should be inserted in the meat.

Make sure the thermometer you buy is designed for meat and poultry, not for candy or appliances.

Regular, Ovenproof Types: These go into the food at the beginning of the cooking time and can be read easily.

Instant-Read and Digital Types:

These are not intended to go in the food in the oven, but give you a quick reading when inserted into the cooked food, and can be read easily.

Pop-Up Types:

These are commonly found in poultry, but may be purchased for other types of meats.

Microwave-Safe Types:

These are especially designed only for microwave ovens.

Cooking Meat

The temperature at which different pathogenic bacteria are destroyed varies, as does the "doneness" temperature for different meat and poultry products.

A roast or steak that has never been pierced in any way during slaughter, processing or preparation and has reached an internal temperature of 145 °F is safe to eat.

A consumer looking for a visual sign of doneness might continue cooking it until it was overcooked and dry.

A consumer using a thermometer can feel reassured the food has reached a safe temperature.
Likewise, poultry should reach at least 160 °F throughout for safety.

At this temperature the meat has not reached a traditional "done" texture and color, and many consumers prefer to cook it longer to higher temperatures. (The red color of poultry does not change to the expected cooked color of white until temperatures are well above 160 °F.)

A thermometer should also be used to ensure that cooked foods are held at a safe temperature (below 40 °F or above 140 °F) until served.

Thermometer Cooking

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Using a thermometer is the only reliable way to ensure safety and to determine the "doneness" of most foods.

To be safe, a product must be cooked to an internal temperature high enough to destroy any harmful bacteria that may have been in the food.

Recent research has shown that color and texture changes are not reliable indicators to ensure that all bacteria have been destroyed.
For example, ground beef may turn brown before it has reached a temperature at which bacteria are destroyed.

A consumer preparing hamburger patties and depending on visual signs to determine safety by using the brown color as an indicator is taking a chance that pathogenic microorganisms may survive.

A hamburger cooked to 160 °F, regardless of color, is safe.

Cooking Meat

Cooking Meat Safely

USE A MEAT THERMOMETER

One of the critical factors in controlling bacteria in food is controlling temperature.

Pathogenic microorganisms grow very slowly at low temperatures multiply rapidly in mid-range temperatures, and are killed at high temperatures.

For safety, food must be cooked thoroughly.

It is essential to use a thermometer when cooking meat to take the guesswork out of cooking and to assure that a safe temperature has been reached to destroy harmful bacteria such as salmonella and E. coli .

chemicals and additives in bread

Have you ever read the ingredients label on a commercially mass produced loaf of bread?

How many can you recognize, let alone pronounce?

Many of the chemicals and additives used in commercial food have been proven toxic and carcinogenic, or at the very least, unhealthy.

Commercial breads have minimal nutritional value—despite their healthy/natural-sounding names.

Do not judge a bread by its title.

Rustic Grains

The Return of Rustic Grains


Rustic bread grains have become more popular as well.
They are increasingly being combined with wheat and rye in multigrain breads.

In addition, they are being used individually to make bread for people who are allergic to wheat and rye.

Artisan Baking

D i d Y o u K n o w ?

The tradition of Challah and other kosher, yeast-leavened breads can be traced back to the Ancient Hebrew belief that breads leavened with sourdoughs were impure due to the fermentation.

Artisan Baking
Over the past two decades, the interest level in healthy, organic, traditional foods has increased dramatically in the US. Like meat, fruits and vegetables, commercially produced bread has come under scrutiny.

In response, traditional European bakeries have been launched in the US with considerable success.

These bakeries use traditional ingredients, techniques and equipment, such as whole meal grains, sourdough leavening, manual dough preparation and stone-hearth baking to produce a wide range of healthy breads.


D i d Y o u K n o w ?

In Ancient Egypt, bread was used as a form of currency.

baking bread

The Mill, the Bake House and the Bakery

As discussed before, leavened bread, unlike porridge and flat cakes, was usually prepared outside of the family home.

The process of making bread required equipment and specialized skills beyond the reach of the average household.

Interestingly, bread was not, as a rule, prepared in bakeries.

Until well into the Middle Ages, bakeries (establishments that sold and distributed bread) were generally kept separate from bake houses (facilities that baked bread).

The principal reasons for this tradition were highly practical in nature: fire prevention, logistics and cost management.
Like most structures, private homes and bakeries were made of highly flammable materials.

Large bread-baking ovens were serious fire hazards.
To protect life and property, bake houses were located away from inhabited areas.

They were often constructed near rivers.
This practice had two main benefits. Water was ready at hand for putting out fires, preparing doughs and cleaning purposes. In addition, bake houses were frequently located next to water-powered mills where flour was produced.

This reduced the time and expense of transporting flour.
Ovens and related baking equipment were also expensive.

Bake houses were often owned by wealthy feudal lords or businessmen.
They allowed the bakery owners of the region to use their facilities in a communal fashion on a fee-basis or in exchange for provision of bread.

This widespread practice made the cost of producing bread much lower for the individual bakery owners

The Staple of the Table

Leavened bread became the staple food, particularly of the masses, though flat cakes and porridges in particular were still widely consumed.

Workers took hunks of bread into the field to sustain themselves throughout the day.

At the table, thick slices of bread known as trenchers were served with a variety of dishes, often forming the centerpiece or base of a meal.

Long before John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, made his famous innovation of adding a second slice on top in the 1700s, bread was commonly served as a base for meats and sauces.

Certain soups and stews were poured on top of bread placed inside a bowl or dish.

Rome and Beyond

Greek settlements in Gaul predated Roman control of the area.

The Greeks brought the tradition of beer making to Gaul, as well as their baking techniques.

Bakers in Gaul began using beer yeast to improve the rising action of certain breads.

Greek bakers dominated the bread trade in Rome.

They established a strict guild system for their craft in Rome, extending a tradition that dated back to 800 BC in Greece.

Through the expansion of the Roman Empire, Greek baking traditions influenced a vast area of the world, especially Western Europe.

In time, France would assume the leadership position in the craft of making bread (as well as wine) formerly held by Greece.

Greek Innovations

Culinary historians credit the Greeks for developing bread baking into an art.

Proper front-loaded bread ovens originated in Ancient Greece.

The Greeks created a wide variety of doughs, loaf shapes and styles of serving bread with other foods.
Baking developed as a trade and profession as bread increasingly was prepared outside of the family home by specially trained workers to be sold to the public.

The Greeks also pioneered sweetbreads, fritters, puddings, cheesecakes, pastries, and even wedding cakes.

Often prepared in symbolic shapes, these products were originally served during special occasions and ceremonies.

By 300 AD, the Greeks had developed over seventy different kinds of bread.

The first true breads

The first true breads were probably developed in the Mediterranean area and Middle East around 2500 BC when fermented doughs (sourdoughs) were added to flour to make flat cakes rise when baked.

Like many innovations, sourdough leavening probably came about by accident.

An early improvement on baking bread on top of coals or griddles was the addition of a clay bell-shaped dome that enveloped the baking dough.

This insulation technique improved the rising action and cooked the dough more evenly.
Baking molds and ovens further refined this process.

The Ancient Egyptians baked breads in stacked molds placed in an oven.

The Assyrians used a different approach all together:

They placed doughs in heated earthen pots that were sealed and buried in the ground.

The First Foods Made from Grains

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Wheat and barely have been discovered at Jericho (in modern Jordan), the oldest known site of human civilization, which dates back to 10,000 BC.

However, millennia would pass before bread was developed as we know it today.

Whole or cracked grains were first eaten raw or after being dried, like modern seeds and nuts.

The direct predecessors of bread were porridges (grains mixed and cooked with water) and flat cakes (doughs baked directly on coals, or on heated stones and tiles).

Various forms of porridge or mush are still eaten daily by a large percentage of the earth's population.

Ancestors of early flat cakes are still common today in the form of crepes, pita, rice cakes, papadum, fritters, nan, pancakes, tamales, and, of course, pizza.

The Twin Births of Cultivation and Civilization

The development of grain cultivation is closely linked to the cultural history of humankind.

Indeed the original meaning of the word culture is cultivation.
As we all recall from our history classes, humans lived as wandering hunter-gatherers for eons.

The first civilizations arose as humans developed agriculture and animal husbandry.

These monumental innovations enabled humans to live in permanent settlements because they provided adequate food production to sustain life in a fixed location.

Since the dawn of civilization grain products have formed the base of the human diet.

Starch

Starch, a carbohydrate that makes up about 70% of flour by weight, also gets in on the act.

When starch granules are attacked by enzymes present in flour, they release the sugars that yeast feeds on.

Starch also reinforces gluten and absorbs water during baking, helping the gluten to contain the pockets of gas produced by the yeast.

Sometimes, a baker will let the dough rise several times, allowing the gluten to develop more completely and the yeast to add more of its flavors.

When the dough is finally cooked—either in an oven, over a fire, or in a steamer, depending on what kind of bread you’re baking—the yeast inside it continues feeding, and the pockets of gas in the dough continue to expand.

As the temperature of the cooking dough rises, the yeast eventually dies, the gluten hardens, and the dough solidifies. Et voilà! Bread!

Leavening agents

Leavening agents would just be bubbling brews without something to contain them.

Here’s where flour comes in.
There are lots of different types of flour used in bread, but the most commonly used in raised bread is wheat flour.

This is because wheat flour contains two proteins, glutenin and gliadin, which, when combined with water, form gluten.

As you knead the dough, the gluten becomes more and more stretchy.

This gum-like substance fills with thousands of gas bubbles as the yeast goes to work during rising.

Yeast

Yeast, on the other hand, is a live, single-celled fungus.

There are about 160 species of yeast, and many of them live all around us.

However, most people are familiar with yeast in its mass-produced form:
the beige granules that come in little paper packets.

This organism lies dormant until it comes into contact with warm water.

Once reactivated, yeast begins feeding on the sugars in flour, and releases the carbon dioxide that makes bread rise (although at a much slower rate than baking powder or soda).

Yeast also adds many of the distinctive flavors and aromas we associate with bread.

Baking powder

Baking powder or baking soda work quickly, relying on chemical reactions between acidic and alkaline compounds to produce the carbon dioxide necessary to inflate dough or batter (more on this later).

Baking powder and baking soda are used to leaven baked goods that have a delicate structure, ones that rise quickly as carbon dioxide is produced, such as quick breads like cornbread and biscuits.

Bread

Bread is the most basic of foods, but it’s also one of the most complex.

Each time you bake bread, you choreograph a complex dance between flour, water, and a leavener.

How do these elements interact to give us the loaves, rolls, and flatbreads we love?

From Chinese baozi to Armenian lavash, bread comes in thousands of forms.

What do they have in common?

On the most basic level, they all involve cooking a mixture of milled grains and water.

Leaveners come in two main forms: baking powder or soda and yeast.

Soy

Go for soy milk (preferably fortified), tofu and meat alternates made from soy to obtain a host of benefits including anticancer action and blood cholesterol lowering.


As kidney function may decline with increasing age, soy is easier on kidneys than protein derived from animal products.

Opt for at least one serving of soy a day.

A cautionary note for women with certain types of breast cancer: it’s best to speak with your physician about whether soy is right for you.

Tomatoes

Tomato products, chock full of lycopene, the pigment that gives tomatoes their red colour, have been shown to decrease the risk of prostate cancer. But tomatoes are not for men alone.


Lycopene acts as an antioxidant, a substance which may slow or prevent oxidation (a process that’s the culprit in the development of a range of diseases).

Lycopene may also be a player in slowing macular degeneration and preventing cancers of the breast, lung, bladder, cervix and skin.

And while raw tomatoes are packed with nutrition, canned or cooked tomatoes contain lycopene that’s more easily absorbed.

flax

Flaxseed meal Good things come in small packages.

That’s especially so with these small brown seeds. Grind the seeds into your food in order to obtain their assorted nutritional perks.

If bowel irregularity is a problem, sprinkle the meal on cereal, yogurt, soup or salads (work your way up to 3 tablespoons/45 ml a day).

Its soluble fibre is a boon for lowering blood cholesterol and regulates blood sugar.

The oil contained is of the omega-3 fatty acid variety. And, last but not least, compounds known as lignans may protect against breast, prostate and colon cancers.

greens

Spinach (and other dark leafy greens)

These superstar greens contain a wealth of disease-preventing compounds.

Besides fibre and antioxidant vitamins E and C, they supply folate, a B vitamin that lowers the blood levels of an artery-damaging protein called homocysteine.

Folate is also linked to protection against colon and breast cancers.

And the colour in these vegetables, provided by the pigment lutein, doesn’t just add visual appeal. Lutein-rich foods may defend against colon cancer and macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the elderly.

Research shows that spinach helps guard against age-related declines in cognitive function. Add greens to your diet every day.

fish

Salmon (and other cold-water fish)Just brain food? Hardly.

Fish with its omega-3 fatty acids plays an influential role in preventing and treating a wide range of diseases.

For example, omega-3 fatty acids can decrease the levels of artery-damaging triglycerides and lower blood pressure readings.

Add to the mix their ability to lower the rate of blood clotting, which reduces the risk of a heart attack or stroke.

And if a heart attack does occur, fish eaters are less likely to die from an irregular heart rhythm that may follow the heart attack.

Anti-inflammation effectResearchers are also investigating the anti-inflammatory effects of these fatty acids on arthritis, autoimmune disorders and inflammatory bowel diseases, as well as possible protection against Alzheimer’s disease and a number of cancers, including prostate and breast.

So reel in some fish, even canned varieties, at least three times a week.

healthy foods

Variety is the spice of life, especially when it comes to food.

Eating a wide range of selections from all four food groups is a way to ensure top-notch nutrition.
For the 50-plus set, certain foods supply the essentials for maintaining good health and also provide an arsenal of compounds to fight disease.

Over the next few days we will list 10 super foods to add to your grocery list.

If you’re taking certain medications, such as blood thinners, check with your physician before making significant changes to your diet.

soup

Step Three:

Puree the slightly cooled mixture in a blender.

Or puree just half, leaving the remainder chunky.

You might be surprised that a soup's "feel" as it rolls over your tongue strongly influences its appeal.
Some people like smooth soups; others prefer a more substantial texture.

The process of pureeing releases both starch and fibers, which thicken the soup.

With starchy vegetables, pureeing breaks down cell walls so their starchy contents spill through the broth.

In vegetables such as broccoli, the cellulose that once held the stalk stiff is now transformed into minute fibers, which also add to the thickness of the soup.

Now that the vegetables have done their job, the final touches are up to you.

A little freshly ground pepper? A touch of wine or sherry? A dollop of yogurt or crème fraîche?
Any month is a good time to practice on soups.
Try thickening with purees, improvising with ingredients and seasonings, and experimenting with various textures.

À la soupe! Anne and Sue

soup

Step Two:

Peel the vegetables (butternut squash peels easily) and cut the flesh into cubes.

This step increases the surface area of the vegetable exposed to both heat and liquid, resulting in a shorter cooking time and a faster transference of flavors into the liquids.

Now combine the sautéed onions or other aromatics with the cut vegetables and chicken or vegetable stock (or with squash try fresh apple juice). Use roughly 2 cups (500 ml) liquid to 4 cups (1 l) of chopped vegetables.

If you are featuring just one vegetable and it isn't particularly starchy—broccoli, for instance—add a small, thinly sliced potato or a 1/2 cup (125 ml) of rice.

You won't notice either in the finished soup, but each swells during cooking and works well as a thickener. Simmer gently until the vegetables are tender.

the begining of soup

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Step One:
Begin by sautéing aromatic vegetables, such as onions, leeks, or garlic, in a small amount of butter or olive oil.
While these ingredients aren't noticed in the finished soup, they do add to its underlying character.
As they sauté, their cell walls soften, releasing their inherent flavors and aromas.
The fat or oil used in sautéing carries not only their own (now mellowed) flavors but also the flavor of any spices you choose to add.
Consider grated ginger and sautéed shallots with carrot soup, coriander with broccoli, and nutmeg with parsnips.
For some real zest, curry powder adds definite pizzazz to squash soup.

heathy food

One of our favorites is butternut squash soup. It's similar to hearty soups made of pumpkin, potato, sweet potato or parsnip, all vegetables that are low in water and high in starch and fiber. As these vegetables cook, their starchy contents absorb liquid and swell, adding natural thickening power to the soup.

Making soups with such dense vegetables involves three basic steps, and each makes scientific sense.

Healthy Eating

With today's focus on healthy eating, even soups have changed.

Traditional cream soups derive their smooth texture from liberal amounts of milk or cream, thickened with flour or cornstarch.

Now when we make soups that are creamy, chances are they contain no cream at all: They're likely thickened with purees made from starchy vegetables.

Fresh veggies and fruit

I find it most difficult to purchase enough fresh veggies and fruit without ending up wasting and having to throw away produce.

Planning ahead and deciding what veggies to eat each week, then rotating so you have a variety over a period of a month is a big help. One week I buy carrots, turnips, cauliflower along with the onions, green peppers, celery and salad fixings. The next week I buy broccoli, squash and continue to use up the carrots and turnips that have kept from the week before.

With fruit it's much the same. I buy a few apples, an orange, a grapefruit and maybe 2 banana's one week. The following week I buy apples, another orange and a cantalope.

This way I have something different throughout the week but there is not much waste going on.

Using Tofu

Many people don't use tofu and that's a shame. I buy a $2. package of extra firm tofu and use it with all my cooking. Tofu is so healthy, prevents cholesterol and is recommended in most healthy diets.

I open the package and slice the tofu in 1/8 to 1/4 in thick slices.........then chop into 1/4 inch squares and use them in soups, spaghetti sauces and salads. Don't taste the tofu right out of the package. It has a very bland nothing taste at that stage but as you prepare it in your food it takes on the flavour of whatever it is being cook in and will seem like small squares of cream cheese in your food.

I also take the 1/4 inch slices and add them, along with kraft cheese slices, turkey slices, or salmon and quartered dill pickles to roll in a tortillia. After the tortillia is rolled I cool it in the fridge for a few minutes and slice into rounds for serving. Again the tofu tastes like everything else in the tortillia........only the lovely cool texture is left to increase the enjoyment of your lunch.

Any tofu left over I place in a small bowl, cover with water, seal with saran wrap and store in the fridge for up to 3 or 4 days. Soft tofu can be used in desserts and although I don't have as much experience with using it I know it does make a lovely texture.

Cooking with Chicken

Chicken with Rice

1 chicken breast, halved, skinned and boned (or use boneless)
1 cup chicken broth
2 T chopped onion
flour for dredging
1.5 T oil (I use olive oil)
1/2 cup uncooked white long grain rice
salt and pepper
2 T butter
mushrooms, halved

Salt and pepper chicken and dredge in flour. Sauté in hot oil for a minute or two on each side.

In another pan sauté onions in the butter; add rice and mushrooms and stir until rice is completely coated with the butter. Add the broth and the chicken breasts. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes.

If you purchase a whole chicken and remove the breasts yourself you can use the legs and thighs for other meals and use the bones and remaining meat to make a broth. Remove the meat from the bones, discard the bones and add the meat to the broth before using for soups or freezing for future use. In this way one chicken can provide two people with up to 5 meals.

Using cheaper cuts of meat

Pork Neckbones are extremely cheap and can be used in many recipes. Everytime we see them on the meat counter we buy almost every package there. Some we feed to the fox who has adopted us and the rest I use to make soup broths and also with the recipes below.


PORK NECKBONES with RICE

Use a large Dutch oven.

Feeds 6 to 8 people. Costs about $2

It don't get any cheaper or more authentic than pork neckbones ‘n' rice.

Cooking for a large crowd of 40 to 50 people this recipe can easily be doubled. On the side easy servings of cornbread and a large tossed salad will complete your day.

Here's what you'll need:

about 2½ pounds of fresh pork neckbones If your supermarket doesn't carry fresh pork neckbones don't shop there. Change supermarkets or move to a better neighborhood.

½ cup cooking oil
2 cups rice
1 Tbsp garlic powder
2 tsps salt
1 tsp black pepper
6 cups of water
1 onion, sliced
½ bunch of chopped green onions, about 4

Directions:
Use the ½ cup of cooking oil and brown the neckbones, turning them frequently.
When the neckbones are browned, add the chopped green onion, the sliced onion and the spices.
Add water and bring to boil.
Cover pot with tight-fitting lid and simmer on low for 1½ hours. Stir once or twice.
After 1½ hours of simmering, add rice. Skim fat if desired.
Simmer 15 more minutes and turn off fire. Stir once.
Wait 15 more minutes and eat.

2 hours later: ready to eat!

Pork 'n' gravy:

cook pork neckbones same as in Pork'n'gravy above.

Cook rice separately and completely (20 minutes for white rice, 45 minutes for brown rice)

Thicken liquid in pot with flour.

Add a "dash" of Kitchen Bouquet® Browning & Seasoning Sauce to "give the gravy a dark color."

Serve over rice.

Pork neckbones ‘n' rice is cheap:

To feed 6 to 8 people for $2.50 cannot be beat and it's good besides!


Pork neckbones for soup

Add two or three neckbones to a stock pot with 10 cups of water, 2 carrots, 1 lge onion, 5 or 6 cloves of garlic, 1 med potato, 2 stocks celery.........all just cut in very large chunks. Bring to boil and then simmer for 2 or 3 hours to let the flavours blend and develop.

Strain and removed meat from bones separating the fat as you go. Add meat pieces back to the strained broth and either commence to make a Barley Soup or freeze the broth in a zip lock bag for using later.

Shopping tips

Watching prices and shopping carefully is an art. I find there are many ways to obtain information helpful to my plans.

Testing on dishwasher soap was reported on 'The Shopping Bags' and they found there is not much difference among the many soaps and you are as well off to buy the cheapest no name product. They also report that you should not buy the giant economy sized because moisture and sitting after being opened reduces the cleaning components in the soaps.

I have therefore started to save money and buy the cheapest soap whether it's a no name product or the sale of the week.

Learning to Shop and Cut Expenses

I never had to worry about a grocery budget. We enjoyed food and I always cooked from scratch but I could buy anything that caught my fancy and never think twice about it. Now with retirement and wanting to spend more on doing things and less on eating I find myself needing to learn new techniques to cut costs.

I've enjoyed the challenge and it's become a second hobby in my life. I haven't moved into coupons yet and I don't know if I will because I hesitate to hold up the people behind me in line in order to put through coupons but that may change depending on the deals I find. :)

There are many interesting and fun ways to cut your expenses. Of course being there for the sales and buying a little extra of what is on sale is one obvious way. Testing the 'No Name' products to see which are of high enough quality that you might substitute them for the more expensive Brand Name products.

Another very good trick is to plan a menu for the week and make a list of your grocery needs from that menu. If you make a list and stick to it you will throw away far less food from spoilage. I take the flyer from the Super Market and plan my menu around the sales for the week so what I'm putting on my list I know is already on sale.

We have moved away from the Giant Economy sized purchases in most cases but if they have canned tomatoes on sale I will buy as much as a case of them at the sale price. The same is true of other products that you use in many recipes. I keep extra bags of navy beans, red lentils, green and yellow beans in the cubboard so I can always whip up a soup in an hour or so.

There are many ways to cut expenses and for me it's a challenge I enjoy. I find satisfaction from not spending more than I need to and still having interesting, healthy and varied meals which include all points of the Canada Food plan.

Flour Tortillas wraps for lunch

often with a cup of homemade soup we will have a tortilla wrap.

I mix salmon or boiled eggs or even sardines with low fat mayo, onions, celery and lettuce.

I use a couple tablespoons of the mix of choice above set onto the centre of the tortilla and spread thinly. I top the mix with thin slices of low fat cheese and roll the tortilla.

The tortilla roll is then cut in 2 inch almost bite sized peaces and placed on a dish in the center of the table for sharing.

To this dish we often have slivers of carrot, cauliflower and/or broccoli flowerettes with a dip of low fat mayo mixed with either ketchup or 'A Taste if Thai' which is a tangy red chili sauce sold in a jar.

Lasagna with your Spaghetti Sauce

Posted below are recipies for a variety of spaghetti sauces and once you have made a batch and frozen the extra in 2 cup portions in zip lock bags you can easily grab a bag and try one of these lasagnas. The lasagna can be cut into 3 and while you eat one section you can freeze the other two in meal sized portions for easy meals in the next couple weeks or a month.


VEGETARIAN LASAGNA

==================Ingredients:------------

2 cups your homemade pasta sauce
1 lb mushrooms, sliced
1 cup mix of cauliflower and broccoli cut in small flowerlets (optional)
12 lasagne noodles, half-cooked
1 cup cottage cheese
1 egg
1 T parsley flakes
1 cup mozarella cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated fine


Instructions:-------------
boil a very large pot of water, add salt to the water and when it comes to a full rolling boil add the lasagna noodles 2 or 3 at a time and cook until still firm but softened, 7 min?

Saute the mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli for 2 or 3 minutes to soften a wee bit.
Mix cottage cheese, egg and parsley flakes together.

In a 9X13 glass baking dish, put a couple of tablespoons of the sauce onthe bottom, spreading it evenly. Put a layer of noodles in the pan. (You may have to trim one of thenoodles to fit along the bottom of the pan, like such: ----------- ----------- ----------- -----------

Cover this layer of noodles with 1/2 the cottage cheese & egg mixture, roughly 1/4 the pasta sauce, then about 1/2 the shredded or finely sliced mozarella.

Next, another layer of noodles, trimming as necessary.Repeat cottage cheese mix, sauce and mozarella, using up the two cheeses.

Layer on the final few noodles. Top with sauce, enough to cover liberally, add 1/4 c parmesan cheese, cover the dish with foil, and bake in a 375 degree oven for 1 hr, uncover for the last 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool for 5 to 10 minutes, to allow the cheese to set alittle before serving. This lasagne is wonderful with a good, crusty garlic bread and a tossed salad.

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VEGGIE LASAGNA==============

Sauce: 2 cups your homemade spaghetti sauce.

Ingredients:------------

1/2 red bell pepper
2 carrots
1 broccoli flowerette
1 medium zucchini
3-4 large mushrooms
8 oz ricotta cheese
12 oz mozzarella, shredded
1 lb lasagna noodles

Instructions:-------------

Chop vegetables and sautee in olive oil. Drop pasta in boiling salted water and simmer for 8-10 minutes, rinse and drain.

Spread a thin layer of sauce in a 9x13" baking dish.

Layer 1/3 of the noodles, 1/2 of the vegetables and ricotta, and a bit less than 1/2 of the mozzarella and sauce. Repeat for second layer. Top with remaining noodles, sauce, and cheese.

Cover tightly with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Uncover and sprinkle with parmesan, bake uncovered for 10 more minutes. Remover from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.

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CHICKEN LASAGNA

Ingredients:------------

8 to 10 Lasagna noodles, cooked
2 cups cooked diced chicken (Perfect for your frozen leftovers)
2 cups your homemade meatless spaghetti sauce
1/3 tsp each salt and pepper
3 Tblsp butter or margarine
3 Tblsp all-purpose flour
1 can (10 oz) chicken broth (make your own chicken broth with the bones and freeze in 1 cup portions in zip lock bags)
1/2 cup half-and-half
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
parmesan cheese

Instructions:-------------

Cream Sauce:------------

Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in flour, cooking and stirring for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add broth, stirring until thickened. Stir in half & half over low heat.

Lasagna Layering:-----------------

Spoon small amount of cream sauce in baking pan. Place 3 cooked noodles in baking pan. Add 1/3 of spaghetti sauce with chicken added mixture and 1/3 of cream sauce. Sprinkle each layer with cheese. Repeat with remaining noodles and sauces. Sprinkle top with parmesan cheese.

Bake at 350 F for 25 to 30 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes before slicing to serve.

Polenta

i pound yellow corn meal
1.5 quarts of water

Bring water to boil, add 1 tsp of salt, add yellow corn meal SLOWLY and stir continously until thinck. Simmer for 20 minutes stirring frequently ( think almost continuously!)


Cooking up a full batch of polenta takes about 20 minutes. You can do it ahead, pour it into a large cake pan and place in the fridge to cool till needed.

After cooling the polenta it can be easily cut in 4 pieces. Wrap and freeze 3 of the pieces for quick easy use later.

The 1/4 we were using for our dinner last night was cut into about 1 inch slices.

Lay the slices on the bottom of a casserole dish and sprinkle Feta cheese over them. I used feta I'm sure most kinds of cheese would be wonderful.

Pop them into the microwave for 2 or 3 minutes on 7 and served them with a spaghetti sauce scooped over.

Very tasty and low fat. If the spaghetti sauce is homemade you can guarantee the salt content is low and healthy too.

Add a tossed salad and you have a nice light meal.

Beans for Protein

A meat free meal once or twice a week is recommended by many dietitians. We use beans, on those meat free days, to give us the protein we need to keep our bones and muscles developing properly.

One of my favourite recipes is so simple and so easy to have in the fridge for a day or two making meal preparation easier.

I use one can of Chick Peas (Garbonzo beans) or a can of mixed beans also works well. Wash beans well and add:

Any or all kinds of fruit (cantalope or apples or both are nice) cubed bean sized and to an equal volume to the beans.

OR

All kinds of veggies. (onions, peppers of all colours, celery, tomatos, stem of broccoli, stem of cauliflower, cucumber...anything you have in your fridge) to an equal volume as the beans.

Both of these recipes give you the crisp cool juicy texture of the fruit or veggis in contrast to the soft bean textures.

you can use anything you want for a dressing but we try to be very low fat here so we use fresh lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Leaving the salad to set in the fridge for a couple hours before serving allows the tastes to blend. If your going to add oil to the dressing Olive Oil or Canola Oil are the healthiest oils to use.

Spaghetti Sauce

Spaghetti sauces can be made quickly, cheaply and unused portions are easily frozen in zip lock bags for future meals. Use the sauce to cover polenta, all forms of pasta and pizza base and if you add a can of beans you have sloppy joes. If you want it meatless all the recipes below, but one, are meatless but with any one of them you can add hamburger, sliced/diced steak, wieners or sausages and it will be just as wonderful.

Spaghetti Sauce #1

It’s important that you use garlic, onion, oregano, salt, and oil. A sauce improves with the addition of basil, a bay leaf, mushrooms, a dash of pepper, thyme, and rosemary, too. A diced or grated potato will thicken it and add a depth to the flavour.
If you have the time, let it reduce to the right thickness by simmering. If you don't have time, strain some of the water when you open the can, or add tomato paste to thicken.

Remove from heat and add salt & pepper. Then add a dash of cream, milk, or sugar--any of those will sweeten the sauce ever-so-slightly...just enough to remove any bitterness. Lastly, sprinkle the sauce with a little chopped basil and/or oregano. Voila

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Spaghetti Sauce #2

1 can diced tomatoes, drained1/4 cup tomato paste1 medium onion2 cloves garlic1/4 cup red wineA dash of crushed red pepperThyme and/or oreganoSautee the onion until it just starts to turn brown. Crush the garlic and add. Stir for a minute. Add the diced tomatoes, the herbs (if they're dried, add fresh herbs at the very end before serving).

Stir until there's no pooling of liquids. Add the wine. Cook two minutes. Add the herbs if you're using fresh. Add a little bell pepper along the way if you like (about 1/2 of a large, roasted and peeled pepper should do it)A fast sauce. It's good and it's simple. Double the paste for a pizza sauce.
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Spaghetti sauce #3

Quarter an onion. Fry it in several tablespoons of olive oil on medium high heat. When onions turn clear add tomatoes. Lower heat. Simmer for 20 minutes or so. Now take out the onions. Add salt and pepper to taste, maybe a basil leaf or two (note: basil not traditional).

Serve with pecorino romano. Simple and old, from the Napoli area.Note: this is not a thick sauce (actually, you could use a tomato puree or run your tomatoes through a food mill). The dish relies on the way the olive oil picks up flavor and coats the pasta. Many Italian sauces are quite simple : they need only one or two ingredients to carry the dish.
Pecorino Romano
Description:Pecorino Romano is made from sheep's milk. It is straw-white in colour and has a sharper flavour than the other cheeses listed here. Although it is sometimes referred to as "Locatelli" Locatelli is a brand name of Pecorino Romano. Pecora in Italian means sheep and Pecorino Romano is one of Italy's oldest cheeses. Legend has it that a shepherd filled his flask with sheep's milk before a long trip and the motion during the trip caused the milk to naturally ferment. The idea for a new cheese was born. Today most Pecorino is made in Sardina Italy. With its fine flavor Pecorino's popularity as a grating cheese has grown significantly in the U.S. Since sheep only give milk for 6-7 months a year all production must satisfy the public's demand for the entire year. *********************************************************



Spaghetti Sauce #4

Recently I've been avoiding the garlic, now I normally only use 1 small clove and onions.

Chop onions, 2 cloves of garlic, some carrots, celery mushrooms and sweet green peppers. Sauté those before you add the tomatoes. Olives go great, especially with a spicier sauce. Pepper flakes are great for spicing things up but go easy just a wee little bit of pepper flakes.

Try throwing in some ricotta cheese. Spinach goes well with tomatoes. Also sometimes I throw in some chopped frozen stuff shortly before it’s done. They just need to defrost.
Fresh basil at the very end of every sauce is an excellent addition but add small amounts at first until you discover what intensity of basil taste you most enjoy. It doesn't have to cook. Just chop it not too finely and stir it into the sauce right before you ladle it over the pasta.

Don't forget the grated parmesan. If you really want good pasta and you have a little extra money to indulge yourself with buy a ‘little tiny’ block of real parmesan cheese and grate it over your pasta after it’s on your plate. It makes all the difference in the world....It's amazingly simple and fast to make an excellent red sauce. The recipes above should serve you nicely. You can have a sauce ready in about a half hour if you have everything chopped ahead of time. Remember, your pasta should never wait on the sauce, but it's alright if the sauce has to wait a bit for the pasta. Once the pasta is cooked, it should be served soon. When it's done, toss the pasta with a little olive oil to keep it from forming a sticky, congealed mass.
Hints for using fresh tomatoes
Don't used ‘chopped’ plum tomatoes. Simmer the tomatoes whole at first for around 10mins to let the sugar cook from the flesh of the tomatoes. If you use chopped tomatoes - or if you crush up whole tomatoes too early in the cooking process - you end up with a sauce made bitter by the tomato seeds.

Spaghetti sauce #5
If you want simple, you can leave out the wine. We don’t drink but I keep a bottle of a good red wine in the house just for using in my spaghetti sauces. I don’t think any other ingredient makes a sauces as tasty as the ¼ to ½ cup of wine does. The alcohol cooks off and your left with the incredible taste.

The basics have been covered in the above comments, but just to put it all together here is:Mama Gravy's Red Sauce3 Tb Olive oil1 large yellow onion, diced2 cloves of garlic minced or crushed1/4 red wine1 to 2 TB sugar2 cans whole roma tomatoes1 can crushed tomatoes1 Bay leafRed pepper flakes to tastepinch of fresh ThymeSalt and pepperSauté the onion in the oil on low heat for 10 minutes and then add garlic. Sauté another 2 minutes being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the rest of the ingredients, including a light salting. Cook slowly, smashing the whole tomatoes as you go. Simmer for an hour or so. Finish with salt to taste.Note: For extra rich, extra thick sauce:After simmering an hour pour into large baking dish, drizzle another 2 TB oil and bake at 325 for another hour or two. This is the best sauce for pizza.


Anniversary Sauce

Okay, now and then it’s time to blow the wad and dig into the wallet to celebrate a special occasion. This has been an interesting combination that, served with garlic bread makes a real treat.

A small carton of whipping cream, some uncooked shrimp, some sliced mushrooms, garlic, parsley, white wine and whatever miscellaneous spices you like (red pepper for instance).Sauté the tomatoes add the cream and all remaining ingredients except the shrimp. Prepare the shrimp and add them last, shrimp require very little time and are cooked when they turn pink. You're done! Instant delicious, quick and easy sauce!

Meat meals

We have started to purchase our meats only when they are on sale. Safeway's "buy one get one free" packages of meat offer a real cost saving if your willing to do a little organizing after you arrive home.

With Chicken thighs we separate them into packages of 4 and have only one each at a meal meaning each frozen package cover meals for two days. We find we can have chicken for $1. each per meal this way.

We also buy the roasts offered on this same sale and then slice into about 1 or 1.5""thick steak slices. We wrap each steak separately and use only one if we are having a stir fry. A stir fry meal will cost us $1. for the meat. If we b.q. the steaks, we marinate them for a few hours and we each have one steak........this meal will cost us $2. for the meat.

Watching the sales, cutting back our servings to healthier sizes and taking the time to divide or cut before freezing means we have been able to cut our meat expenses considerably.

Vegetable Chowder

Another soup we enjoy and have regularily costs us $1.65 for soup for two for lunches.

1 pound parsnips
1 large yam
1 small head broccoli
1 small onion, diced
3 cups water
salt to taste
8 oz ricotta cheese (low fat)
2 cups milk (I use 1 or 2% milk)
1/2 cup grated potato
black pepper
pinch of ground nutmeg
2 T grated parmesan cheese

Peel parsnips and yams and dice to 1/2 inch, Cut broccoli head into small flowerets peel the stem and dice to 1/2 inch cubes.

bring the water and salt to a boil, add parsnips, sweet potato, broccoli stem, grated potatoes and onions. Return to a boil and turn very low to simmer for 10 minutes. Add the broccoli flowerets and simmer 3 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender.

Combine ricotta cheese, milk, pepper and nutmeg in a blender. Whirl until pureed then stir into soup. Gently heat through before scooping into soup bowls and sprinkling with parmesan cheese.

If this gives you 4 servings (it gives us 6 servings)

per serving 300 calories, 7 g fat, 49 g carbs

Cutting expenses and eating well.

I've kept my grocery till tapes and broken down my expenses so I know exactly what different meals and recipes are costing us.

The soup recipe listed here costs 37 cents a meal (that's a meal, not each. Feeding two of us costs 18.5 cents each). I freeze, in zip lock bags, 2.5 cup measures from each batch of soup. Having a variety of soups in the freezer, ready to quickly thaw in the microwave, makes our lunches very easy and still delicious.

My Vegetarian Lentil Soup

canola or Olive oil
1 cup onions, diced small
4 medium carrots, diced/sliced to 1/2 inch
1/2 cup of red split lentils
1 1/2 cup veggie stock
pinch of ground mace
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
2 med or 1 large yam, diced to 1/2 inch
1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes (or dice a cup of fresh tomatoes with the seeds removed)
add water to thin to required consistancy as required

Saute the onions and carrots in the canola or Olive oil in a large heavy frying pan over medium heat for 5 minutes stirring occassionally.

Clean the lentils and rinse. Add the lentils, veggie stock and seasonings to the pan, stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to very low and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the tomatoes and yams, stir and cover. Bring back to a boil and reduce heat again to simmer another 20 minutes until the yams are soft and the soup has thickened stirring occassionally. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Serve immediately or freeze in med or small zip lock bags in meal sized batches.


I really enjoy this soup. I hope it's something you find filling and satisfying too. For 18.5 cents a bowl you can't do much better.

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