lots of cookin!

after I made 3 very unhealthy Oreo Cookie Desserts, I made 3 healthy salads for my family reunion.

1. Potato Salad - Old potatoes + half and onion + Parsley fresh picked from the yard +Balsamic Vinegar + Olive Oil + Apple Cider Vinegar + Agave Nectar + mustard = Delicious! Just a bit of each of the liquids whisked with a fork & you have a healthy dressing!

2. Cucumber Salad - 4 Cukes + a bunch of grape tomatoes + half of an onion + Balsamic Vinegar + Olive Oil + Apple Cider Vinegar + Agave Nectar + mustard = Delicious! Just a bit of each of the liquids whisked with a fork & you have a healthy dressing!

3. Pasta Salad - 2 pkgs whole wheat pasta + 2 cans artichokes (quartered) + parsley picked from the yard + 3 red peppers cut into little confetti pieces + Celery cut up into small pieces + Balsamic Vinegar + Olive Oil + Apple Cider Vinegar + Agave Nectar + mustard = Delicious! Just a bit of each of the liquids whisked with a fork & you have a healthy dressing!

There ya have it. Have a go at healthy living!!! Say no to brats!

Tomatoes!

Can a person survive on tomato sandwiches? Yes! Until they learn how to freeze them. I will learn today. Google, here I come! One fun thing is putting horseradish sauce on the tasty treat instead of mayo. Healthy mayo of course! Oh the yummy possibilities! I'll post again when I start making something besides tomato sandwiches! LOL!

Jicama, Orange, Almond Salad

ingredients
3 cups julienned jicama
3 cups orange sections
1/2 cup whole natural almonds, toasted
1/2 cup julienned red bell peppers
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. chopped cilantro
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp. chili powder
Lettuce leaves, as needed

preparation
Combine all ingredients except lettuce leaves in mixing bowl. Toss to mix thoroughly. To serve, line serving plates with lettuce leaves. This salad is low in saturated fat.

This recipe is from the almond board, Portfolio Eating Plan

Spaghetti Squash With Kale and Tofu

Cook spaghetti squash any way you wish, and take seeds out. Scoop out squash and put it in a pan with kale, tofu, and salt/pepper as you prefer. I looooove pepper in my spaghetti squash. I put in a bit of olive oil and some good for you butter with plant sterols. Cook this up until kale is wilted/cooked. Cover and let wilt for 5 minutes before you stir to make sure it is all cooking down. This is a great meal.

Kale Chips

Wash, dry, and cut kale into bite size pieces with no big stem. Put in a bowl & drizzle with a bit of evoo. Stir with hands to make sure each piece has olive oil on it. Put on a cookie sheet flat. Only salt a little. Too much salt makes it impossible to enjoy. Bake in 350 oven for 20 minutes or until crisp/brown edges. Take out, cool, enjoy like potato chips! If the kids could get hooked on these, my life will be dreamy!

Better than sex pad thai!

Chinese rice noodles...follow directions. Holy cow, no sat. fat & 10 g protein!!!

Bed of spring mix on bottom of plate.

Then noodles.

Then sauce...here's the recipe.

1/3 cup natural peanut butter.
1 Tsp. garlic salt
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. soy sauce, low sodium
1 tsp. sugar
1/3 cup water
Sprinkle of cayenne to taste
Sauteed tofu

Microwave sauce in microwave for one minute.

On the top, put crunchy bean sprouts. Sprinkle 5 peanuts on top of that.

OMG! So goooooood. I am in heaven!

Hot Pepper Chow Chow

1 ½ lbs. ground jalepeno peppers (or any other hot peppers)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cups shredded kale and/or ground green tomatoes (I use a mixture of the 2.)
1 ½ cups apple cider vinegar
¾ cup sugar (I used less sugar & a bit of agave nectar)
½ cup water
1 Tbsp. canning and pickling salt
1 Tbsp. minced fresh cilantro
1 tsp. celery seed
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced

My mom's best friend made this, and it was my favorite! I can't believe I made it! Craig and I are loving it!

Backwards Baba Ganoush

I wanted to make Baba Ganoush with zucchini instead of eggplant because I heard you could. I googled the recipe. I wrongly assumed that it was a raw dish. OOPs! It turned out awful. On a dog walk, a friend told me to cook it after instead of before. I did it and it turned out super!

Here are the ingredients:

Large Zucchini
3 cloves garlic
3 tbs. lemon juice
5 tbs. olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Can of garbanzo beans

Food processor is needed to grind it all!

Grill the zucchini first unless you want to do it backwards like me. Good luck!

Back to the basics, with a twist: Quinoa Stuffed Peppers!

The previous cabbage recipe lasted a couple days, & it was good.

We need to get back to tofu & beans & greens, so I worked with those a bit to make some fun stuffed peppers!

I started with an onion. Sauteed it. Added an extremely hot pepper, seeded. I added a cup of cubed zucchini since I don't eat sugar, and hence can't eat zucchini bread. When all is soft, I added tons of kale, cut very small. When it looked like that was cooking good, I added some spinach to the mix. For taste, I added some balsamic vinegar.

While all of that was cooking, I make simple quinoa, a grain with protein.

I combined my mixture to the quinoa. I added beans and a package tofu.

I put some peppers, already soft from boiling a bit, to a square, glass pan. I stuffed them with the mixture.

Craig and I ate the mixture that didn't fit into the peppers for dinner. I will cook the peppers in the oven at 350 for an hour for dinner tomorrow. Voila! 2 meals.

Sometimes I make quinoa stuffed peppers by adding a portion of tofu, a can of beans, and 1 cup of salsa. That is a shortcut. You can put spaghetti sauce on top to bake as well. We love quinoa stuffed peppers! Play with the recipes!

so delicious egg dish!

Start by putting cubed old bread in the bottom of a basic size cake pan.

In Olive Oil, saute onions, hot peppers with no seeds, and garlic, 1-2 cloves. Spread this mix over the bread.

Strain a small jar of artichoke hearts & spread them over the bread & mix.

Sprinkle parm cheese, about 2 tbs. over mixture.

Put 4 Morningstar sausage patties crumbled over the mixture.

Mix 3 egg whites & 3 eggs & 1/2 c. skim milk together and pour over everything.

Top with a huge handful of raw spinach.

Cover with aluminum foil. Bake in 350 oven for an hour, tightly covered.

Oh my gosh!!! So tasty!

Haven't had eggs in a year, but thought I'd add them in once in a while for fun & creativity.

Sunday Dinner

Today we will feast because we were all separated for the weekend, and we are coming together again. The boys will be super hungry. I will make chicken, potatoes, cucumber salad, and watermelon for dessert.

I marinated the chicken in Italian dressing and grilled it.

Potatoes: 4 large baking potatoes, unpeeled
4 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
***bake coated potatoes in baking dish for 30-6- minutes depending on the size.

Cucumber Salad. 2 cukes, 2 tomatoes, 1/4 of a large vidalia onion cut thin, 2 tbs Italian dressing, 1 tbs hot sauce, 1/2 cup vinegar, garlic salt, pepper. Soak them a while. Delicious! I could eat the whole bowl! I probably will since I'm the only one in the family that could pretty much drink vinegar! LOL

For fun I am making hot sauce infused baked onions to put on our chicken.

Teriyaki Purple Cabbage Green Beans

First you marinate the tofu, about half a pkg., in soy sauce. Add fresh herbs and 3 cloves of garlic. Cook this up with a yellow summer squash and lottttts of pepper.

Then you throw a ton of green beans and purple cabbage in some olive oil and cook on high for about 10 minutes.

Pour the tofu mix on top of the bean/cabbage mixture. Add lotttttts of pepper and some Teriyaki sauce. (watch serving size suggestion)

Cook on low for 10 more minutes.

Why this combo? I got it from the organic coop. We'll see how it turns out!

Now What?

After I ate my salad & whole wheat bagel for lunch, I said..."Now What?"

I was hankering for something sweet and we were plum out of fruit & dates, my usual.

I Pammed up a pan and threw in some walnuts, a couple of tablespoons of 100 percent maple syrup, and cinnamon. Then I cooked it up for a bit. I popped popcorn in olive oil on the stove. Then I combined the two concoctions and stirred with my hands. I also put in extra cinnamon. Wow, what a good combo! My son loved it. He always tests my inventions. Yum.

Lemon Infused Salted Watermelon

Here is a fun treat! Cube a watermelon. In a small bowl, cover it with a couple tablespoons of lemon juice. Then sprinkle salt over that. Yum! So refreshing and delicious!

Veggie Lasagna

Spray Pam on the bottom of a large lasagna pan.
Sprinkle Extra Virgin Olive Oil on bottom of pan. (EVOO)
Slice sweet potatoes and make that the bottom layer.
Lay Greens over them, like lasagna noodles!
Make a layer of sliced yellow squash. Salt and pepper them.
Another layer of greens.
Layer of sliced onions. Salt, pepper, EVOO.
Greens.
Potatoes, Salt, pepper, EVOO.
Can of Kidney beans, juice and all over the top. It will be sparse.
Press 2 cloves of garlic on top.
Cover with aluminum foil.
Cook at 350 for 2 hours.
Cool for 30 minutes.

I am posting this recipe before I even try this dish. I just made it up as I went along. We'll see!

Next time, less EVOO. I need to add something like whole wheat flour between layers to make it stick. Any suggestions? The taste was marvelous! Just too oily & slippery. :)

2nd night better...added curry.

Presto Pesto!

When you are not in the mood for wilted greens the way I was making them before, here is another great way to get them in the raw way! Put 3-4 cloves of garlic, 1/2 cup of walnuts, and olive oil in a food processor and make a paste. Add a whole head of kale a handful at a time and make it all chopped up to a paste. Add more olive oil if it is too dry. I added a can of white beans to add fiber to the dish. Serve with whole wheat pasta. Include sliced home grown tomatoes with this meal. It really makes it.

You may use any kind of greens and any kind of nuts. Play around with this recipe! It is yummy and satisfying. We ate it at room temp tonight... a great summer dish.

Presto!!!

For dessert, I am making a plain yogurt with chopped up apples, walnuts, and a drizzle of agave nectar. Yum!

Did an abs class tonight at Elements. The owner, Kim, said come on in and mention the blog! She will give you some free days or free classes to try it out!

Back in Action!

Sorry I have been away for a while. My dad got married in Mississippi, so we went there for a fun week with family. We ate healthy by bringing our grains and tofu and making the greens and beans dish a couple of times. We also made tuna one day and had chicken a few times during the week. We did have the food at the wedding...delicious gumbo and the cake that made my dad fall in love with his bride, lemon cake. It was the second sugar treat in a whole year. Otherwise, we cut it out totally.

My sister and I had a ball teaching our Mississippi friends and cousins a little bit of Zumba! They loved it!

Now that we are back, we are busy picking from our garden. We have beans, tomatoes, greens, kale, lettuce, cucumbers, and giant zucchini! I love to bring it home and prepare it all at once. Then it is so easy to cook with.

I took a break from the same ole from before vacation and made a fun couscous dish that is cold and full of veggies! I added tomatoes, onions, parsley, black beans, tofu marinated in a hot rooster sauce to taste, the kind that is on the table at Noodles and Co., juice from one lemon, half cup of raisins, and two cucumbers seeded and chopped into small pieces. Mix all of this with couscous, and you have a great dinner with leftovers for lunch the next day!

Enjoy your summer day! I'll post more recipes soon!

In a rut? No, just eating in season!

I know I have been doing the same meal basically since I started this blog. I will continue with variations using whole grains and veggies. It will change slightly from day to day, but stay the same with beans, greens, tofu, whole grain, and veggies. The spices change and make a huge difference. I love to chop veggies into little pieces and get my greens ready to cook so it is super easy. One big prep day, then just throw it in olive oil for a great meal! I am a part of Simply Wisconsin, a coop that gives me fresh, organic vegetables once a week. I only get 4 veggies from them per week. I also have my own garden with a variety of veggies. I feel a huge need to use them all and not waste a bite, so I use tons in my meals. Until next time, I'll keep cooking in season, and I won't bore you with the same old recipes. I will wait until I have something new and interesting to share! :)

Leftovers With a Twist!!

My good friend, who eats just like me, suggested eating my couscous meal with sesame oil and soy sauce to give an Asian flare instead of my usual hot sauce. I am so excited to try this tomorrow. As for tonight, it was leftovers with hot sauce. Yes, I am addicted to Frank's Hot Sauce. But I am totally open to changing! Yumm!

Celebrations!

Well, we were pretty hungry when we got home from the burger, hot dog, brat fest today, so we were sooo glad to eat fresh greens, couscous, onions, chives, garlic. Yum! Satisfying!

4th of July Picnic

Today we have a picnic. I will eat Costoco's Black Bean burgers on whole grain. They are delicious. I am sure there will also be salads and fruit. Good choices are all around.

In Praise of Chocolate Flavored Rice Cakes!

Had leftovers tonight. I have a couple of rich, chocolatey treats to make for 4th get togethers, and I ate a few rice cakes in place of putting my face in the ice cream that I was spreading out over Oreos. LOL

Going Solo

Tonight, I dine alone in my peaceful back yard with caldlelight. It is so nice to have quiet. I made couscous with greens, onions, garlic, tomatoes, black beans, tofu, and hot sauce. I also used a little salt/garlic salt to season. I am going to use half, and have half for lunch tomorrow. I'm off to read my book, The Help. I will top it all off with a glass of red wine. I'll probably fall asleep after the first page. zzzzzz.

Coffee Break!

After a day of sun and water, I was pooped! Drank some coffee, off to dance with my girlfriends (aka Zumba!). I'm making some quinoa mix with greens from the garden, beans from a can, onions, garlic, and tofu for a late dinner on the patio with Craig. This dish with greens will need ___ _____. You fill in the blanks! :)

P.S. I added fresh herbs instead of beans. I added shitake mushrooms and yellow/red peppers. I also added tomatoes. This was sooooooo delicious. Yum.

Free 3 Day Punch Card at Elements!!!

I have loved getting my heart pumping and healthy at Elements. I also enjoy making my bones and muscles strong with the weights. If you don't have a place to make your body work and make your life longer for your family, try Elements! Kim Branch, the wonderful owner, will allow you to try a few classes or the machines to see if you like it! The trainers/teachers are the best! They have a life coach available, lots of yoga classes, Zumba, and much more! Just mention that you heard from Heidi's blog, secondchanceliving-heidi.blogspot.com, and you will be set up from someone at the the front desk! Have fun!

Leftovers

Tonight I used yesterday's leftovers and added swiss chard. Heated it up and it wilted. I added hot sauce to taste. lol

When the kids eat ribs...

Salerno's has half price ribs on Tuesdays, so we get a side of spinach cooked in garlic and olive oil. Tonight I cooked the Harvest Blend Quinoa from Trader Joe's, added black beans, tofu, sun dried tomatoes, and hot sauce. Quinoa is a grain that is a complete protein. It is very good for you. We will see how it tastes. Probably not as good as the ribs that waft through the air at my house but hey, mine is heart healthy. Yes, my kids still eat red meat/meat once or twice a week. They also eat fish and chicken.

Snacks

We love dates, figs, nuts like almonds and walnuts. Fresh fruits of any kind is always legal for our plan. Our favorite movie treat is popcorn cooked on the stove with olive oil. Yum!

Hidden Sugar

Sugar is hidden in yogurt, barbecue sauce, peanut butter and even soy milk! Always look at labels, and make smart choices with no sugar added!

Traveling?

Eating healthy is hard on the road. Always pack a cooler full of healthy stuff. Don't go out to restaurants. Grocery stores have healthier food. Keep it simple!

Super Soup

Start a chopped onion, chopped potato, and some baby carrots cooking in some olive oil. When the onions are clear, add a few 12 oz. cans of V8. Put in a frozen bag of Okra, a 16 oz bag of Harvest Grains Blend from Trader Joes, and a whole bag of green to the pot. Cook on high until greens are wilted. Add a can of kidney beans and chopped tofu. Simmer then for 30 minutes. You may have to add more V8, but it ends up like a veggie chili. We love it, and my neighbors do, too! :) As usual, add lots of hot sauce!!! :)

Favorite Breakfast!

I love Grape Nuts with a cut up banana and soy milk. Craig eats a more elaborate meal. He eats Cheerios, walnuts, almonds, pecans, Craisins, ground cinnamon, grouns flaxseed, and frozen mixed berries. Might I say that it is a heaping bowl!

Craig's Attempt - This is what happens when Heidi is not home. lol

He made the kids pasta - Whole wheat. He set aside some for us.
In another pan, he put a can of chicken chili from Costco with a simple can of tomato soup. He was going to add red beans, but thank God he didn't! When I got home from working out, I combined the pasta, the soupy sauce and I also added a bunch of greens that I grew in the garden to add good vitamins...and tons of hot sauce. I heated it until the greens wilted. It was good, I guess. We ate it. Craig says he is sorry if you try this at home. lol

Not Your Mamma's Collard Greens

One bag of frozen Collard Greens 16 oz
1/2 a head of cauliflower cut into florets
One can of red beans/kidney beans
1/4 container of tofu, chopped
Frank's Hot Sauce to taste. (lots!)

Put everything into a microwave safe bowl and cook it covered for 12 minutes.

Serve with a bit of bread/pita. We put a tablespoon of smart balance mayonase on the side if we felt like dipping or spreading.

Who needs bacon! Ha!

Welcome to Second Chance Living!

Never take life for granted. Last year, after 15 years of marraige, my husband was diagnosed with heart disease at the young age of 42. He got three stents in what the doctor described a very difficult surgery on his "widdow maker" situation in his arteries. We are very blessed to still have him. The doctor and dietition gave us strict orders on how to eat in order to live a long healthy life, and we are doing it! The typical American diet is what we were doing before this big event of a near fatal heart attack...Pizza on Fridays, sure, I'll have a couple of brats, MMM! ribs, sweeet! We would eat birthday cake and some sweets if we felt like it. We thought were doing well. WRONG!

Since the 3 stents, we have changed EVERYTHING! We exercise so much more, 30 minutes a day of cardio at least 5 times a week. We strictly gave up sugar, fat/fried food, white pasta and rice, alchohol. After being in intensive care for a week, I thought I deserved a PHD in nutrition because I listened to the dietition and doctor, and read the thick packet that they gave me about what we can and can't eat. I know that my husband would do nothing if I didn't do it myself, so I am eating what he is eating.

After changing our lives, both of us lost 30 pounds in a mere 2 months. It was strange, it just fell off! People kept asking what I did, and I would explain what happened and what we ate now.

Things I have incorporated into our new "Second Chance Living":
Portfolio Eating Plan (google it)
Skinny Bitch Books (but we eat chicken at parties and fish once a week)
The Kind Diet
Sommersize by Susan Sommers
Lots of Vegetarian cookbooks, I love the ones with color pictures because I'm a visual learner.

The other element of our new life is exersise. I joined Elements Diet and Fitness so I could stop freaking out and shaking because I was so stressed. I thought I'd try yoga. Then I found out lots of ways to confuse my muscles! I found Zumba. I am now a Zumba freak! All of these classes from Elements as well as the awesome weight machines have lifted me out of my mess from a year ago to feeling better than my twenties in my forties!

I want to share some recipes and stuff with friends who might be interested. I want to change America with my own "Food Revolution" like Jamie Oliver! Too many people are sick and dying young because of what we eat and our lifestyle. But I have learned that some people just don't want to be helped. I am so thankful that my husband and I are on the same page in this lifestyle. We are opposite of where we were exactly one year ago. This is our second chance, and we want all of you to have it before you go through what we went through.