Beef and Vegetable Stir-Fry

Beef and Vegetable Stir-Fry

8-12 oz steak, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated
1 chili pepper, red or green (remove the seeds and the ribs and it won't be too hot)
8 oz package of bean sprouts
1/2 bell pepper, sliced (any color)
handful of snow peas, sliced into strips
handful of baby corn
3 green onions, chopped

Tip: Prepare all your vegetables before you start cooking anything!

1/2 box whole wheat linguine (about 6.5 ounces)**
1. Cook the noodles according to package directions then drain and put in a bowl.
2. Crank up the heat on a wok or skillet and add a bit of peanut oil.
3. Drop the steak, garlic, ginger, and chili pepper into the skillet.
4. 30 sec before the meat is done add bean sprouts, a splash of soy sauce, and
the juice of a lime.
5. Dump the contents of the pan into the bowl with the noodles.
6. Add a little more oil to the pan and stir-fry the remainder of your
vegetables for 1-2 minutes.
7. Remove from heat and put noodles and beef back into the skillet just to toss
and heat through. Add soy sauce to taste.
8. Serve with chopsticks.

The chopsticks may have made this dish exceptionally fun to eat.

I don't know what is so special about this meal. I liked it. But I didn't think my family would like it. I have two toddlers. Every meal is a battle to get them to eat. Plus, I was hesitant to make this dish because my husband doesn't like stir-fry, soy sauce, or sprouts. But check out results...

There was no battle and no leftovers! SUCCESS!!! And that's what makes this meal so special.

**If you haven't tried whole wheat pasta, this is a great meal to start with. Your family won't taste the difference and the brown soy sauce will disguise the slightly browner pasta.

Apple Coffee Cake

I'm really excited about this one! It's the best coffee cake I've ever had...did I mention it's guilt-lessly heart-healthy too! This is also a good starter food to get your family used to eating whole wheat. This recipe uses half whole wheat flour/half white flour. With all the sugary apple cinnamon goodness, I don't even taste the whole wheat.

Apple Coffee Cake

Dry ingredients:
2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

Wet ingredients:
1.5 cups peeled and diced granny smith apple (1.5 apples)
1/4 cup liquid egg product (egg beaters original)
1/3 cup + 2 Tbs sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
optional: 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans [adds 100 calories per serving]

Topping:
1 Tbs flour
1 Tbs Whole wheat flour
2 Tbs oats or nuts
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbs butter
2 Tbs brown sugar

1. Lightly spray a 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix wet ingredients and add dry ingredients all at once. Stir just until combined.
3. Pour batter into the pan. Combine topping with a fork until crumbly.
4. Sprinkle topping on top of cake batter.
5. Bake for 30 minutes. Let it cool slightly, but serve warm.

Note: I tweeked this recipe so that it would be appropriate for just 4 servings because there are 4 people in my family. Obviously you could get more servings out of it, but let's be honest. While my kids are taking their afternoon nap, any leftover species of "cake" does this mysterious disappearing act. *wink wink* I avoid leftovers completely by serving LARGE pieces of cake at breakfast so that it disappears BEFORE my vulnerable time of day.

Here's the stats for 1/4 of the cake:
calories 317 fat 3.7g carbs 70g sugars 34g fiber 4g protein 6g
Okay, ALOT of carbs and sugar! I know, but for a weekend brunch I'm willing to splurge.

Try this recipe and leave a comment telling me what you think.

Mayo-free Tuna Melt

Regardless the debate about whether mayonnaise is "healthy" or not, I dislike mayonnaise. It gives me the willy-nillies. Too much of it just makes me cringe from the greasy sensation in my mouth. Ugh.

Tuna on the other hand, is undeniable good for you and protein packed. How good does this look!?!


Mayo-free Tuna Melt

Large pouch of tuna
1/4 cup of onion (I used green this time and it was delish.)
2 Tbs bell pepper
fresh basil chopped
1 tsp balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
1 tsp or less extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

Mix together in a bowl, add salt and pepper to taste, and let it sit for 10 minutes to combine flavors.

Meanwhile...
Slice sub rolls
Broil them cut-side down on a baking sheet
When they are crusty and golden, turn them over and toast cut-side up.
When that side is crusty and golden add tuna, sliced tomato, and cheddar cheese.
Bake just until the cheese is melted. And voila!


Tuna the way I like it!

Movie Night

To celebrate the release of Avatar on DVD, I thought I'd talk about popcorn. Popcorn is a great, low calorie snack with lots of fiber for the amount of calories. The trick is in the toppings. I love butter soaked popcorn with plenty of salt, but I know my heart doesn't appreciate it. So to please my body and my guilty conscience, I prepare my popcorn a little differently. I air-pop my popcorn (totally worth the $18 I spent on an air-popper), then I spray it with a little "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" Spray, and sprinkle a little cinnamon and sugar all over it. What can I say, I have a sweet tooth, but you could certainly use salt too.


Here's the stats for 3 cups of popped popcorn:

Oil-popped 165 calories 9g fat
Air-popped 92 calories 1 g fat

1 Tbs butter 102 cal 11.5g fat
imitation butter spray 0 cal 0 fat (that's right, it's flavored water!)

(the sugar will add 16 calories per tsp)

So feel good about enjoying some popcorn with your movie!

Note: I am concerned about taste and to keep the integrity of my blog, I won't hold back any information regarding taste. I will tell you that with the butter spray, I've noticed that it changes the texture of the popcorn. It becomes a little chewier, especially if you let it sit for a while. Obviously because every kernel gets wet with the spray. But I still eat it and love it!

All you need to know about FAT.

You may be under the impression that less fat is always better. However a low-fat diet may have health risks, such as depression, increased cancer risk, and higher cholesterol leading to heart disease. Fat is essential for a healthy body.

How do you know which fats are healthy and which raise the bad cholesterol?

I found this article on sparkpeople that breaks it down simple for us non-medical/non-dietitian people.

These heart-healthy fats are part of a cholesterol-lowering diet:

• Monounsaturated Fats are the healthiest fats. They decrease your total blood cholesterol but maintain your HDL (good) cholesterol. Ideally, most of the fat in your diet should come from this group, which includes: nuts, avocadoes, canola oil, natural peanut butter, olive oil, olives, peanut oil, pistachios, sesame oil, sesame seeds.
  
  
• Polyunsaturated Fats are somewhat healthy fats that decrease your total blood cholesterol by lowering both the LDL (bad) cholesterol and the HDL (good) cholesterol. Lowering your total cholesterol is great, but because these fats also lower your HDL (good) cholesterol, you should only enjoy them in moderation. You'll find polyunsaturated fats in corn oil, mayonnaise, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds.
  
  A special group of polyunsaturated fats is called Omega-3 fatty acids. These are heart-healthy and can be found in high-fat fish (albacore tuna, mackerel and salmon), other seafood (herring, lake trout, oysters, sardines, shellfish and shrimp), and plant sources (flaxseed and walnuts).
  
  

To lower your cholesterol, avoid these unhealthy fats:

• Saturated fat is unhealthy fat that increases both your total cholesterol and your LDL (bad) cholesterol. Some experts say that limiting your saturated fat intake is one of the most important cholesterol-lowering tips you can follow. Try to limit or avoid these sources of saturated fat: bacon, bacon grease, beef, butter, cheese, cocoa butter, coconut, coconut milk, coconut oil, cream, cream cheese, ice cream, lard, palm kernel oil, palm oil, pork, poultry, sour cream, and whole milk. (I buy only low-fat or fat-free products of all the items in this category.)

• Trans Fat is the unhealthiest fat you can eat! It increases your total cholesterol and your LDL (bad) cholesterol while lowering your HDL (good) cholesterol. Even eating a small amount of trans fats significantly increases your risk of heart disease—especially if you already have risk factors like high cholesterol. Experts haven't established any level of trans fats as safe, so keep you intake near 0 grams. Food products that contain trans fat include vegetable shortenings, hard stick margarines, crackers, candies, cookies, snack foods, fried foods, doughnuts, pastries, baking mixes and icings, store-bought baked goods, and more. (But we all knew this stuff is bad for us, right?)

So I use all fat-free dairy products and low-fat meat. I add avocado to my sandwiches and reach for almonds or peanut butter for a snack. A word of caution: do not sit in front of the TV with a jar of peanut butter and celery sticks. Nuts add a lot of calories. 2 Tbs of peanut butter is almost 200 calories! Moderation.

And cheese is another dangerous one. My husband thinks the more cheese the better...in fact most of Americans think that way. Less is more when it comes to cheese. Learn portion sizes and stick to it.

P.S. I made the BEST coffee cake today! And did I mention it was heart-healthy? Keep following I'll post recipes soon.

"Healthy"

I hate the term "healthy." (That may surprise you since my blog has it in the title.) My dislike for the word comes from people's general use of the word. There are not healthy foods and unhealthy foods. It bothers me that people think it is black and white.

Like salad. Most people say: healthy food! Let's break it down.
Lettuce -- almost 0 calories and almost 0 nutritional value (it's the "water" of food)
Vegetables -- healthy, but how many salads are packed with them?
Cheese -- high in fat (not the healthiest kind of fat either)
Salad dressing -- definitely not healthy (all yucky fat and 2 Tbs = 120 calories) and I bet you use more than 2 Tbs!
So your for your basic green salad, you add a bunch of fat to eat a few shreds of carrot and a couple tomatoes. I'd rather skip the salad and have a handful of carrot sticks.

So here's my definition of healthy:
1. Healthy Food = anything that is packed with nutrients to fuel your body, make you feel good and have energy that lasts all day; food in it's natural state (without a long list of chemicals)
2. Healthy Person = when your body reaches a weight and fitness level that allows you to do anything active without hesitation

What is your definition of healthy?

The Basics: Weight-loss 101

The way I lost weight and gained all my knowledge was through counting calories. Now before you tune me out completely hear me out. Is it tedious? Yes. Does it take math skills? Yes.

But...
1. Nothing will teach you more about the food you are eating than reading labels. (And you have to read labels with calorie counting.)
2. It automatically makes you keep a food journal.
3. It works! Really it's fool proof.
4. It's FREE! Yes! I found this website that allows you to register for FREE. It has a recipe calculator, food tracker and it tracks more than just calories. I track calories, fat, carbs, and protein. Check it out if you are serious about weight-loss.

It's a simple concept...there are 3500 calories in 1lb of fat. So to lose 1lb, you have to either burn 3500 with exercise or eat 3500 fewer calories. Now a lot of people get a gym membership and think they will automatically be healthy and lose a bunch of weight. While exercise is important and definitely helps in weight-loss, I find that your diet it even more important. Consider this...

If I were to run or walk on the treadmill, I burn a little over 100 calories per mile. So to lose 1 lb in a week, you'd have to run 35 miles! It's doable, but it takes time. Or you could eat 500 fewer calories a day and in a week's time you'll have lost 1 lb. It's doable, but it takes discipline.

So to recap, my secret to healthy weight-loss: TIME AND DISCIPLINE. If you are ready to give a little of both, you could lose weight and be whatever size you want to be. You have control over your body. Check out http://www.sparkpeople.com to start today.