A cravable "salty" salad

Cravable "Salty" salad
Vegetarian-friendly baked beans (check ingredients for bacon or chicken, even if it says vegetarian. If you aren't a vegetarian, enjoy whatever bean you like)
Tofu
Spicy horseradish mustard
Feta cheese
Green pepper
Steak tomato
Quinoa (refrigerated, doesn't need to be warm)
Onion
Romaine lettuce

1. In a large bowl, combine chopped lettuce, onion, tomato and green pepper (however much you want- you can add other veggies).
2. In a small bowl, take 1/4 cup firm tofu and crumble it. Stir in 2 tsp spicy mustard. Add to salad bowl.
3. Top salad w/ quinoa, a few spoonful's beans and a little feta cheese.
4. Serve with your favorite post-workout salty "treat" such as pita chips, barbecue soy thins, wheat thins, triscuits or wasa crackers.
ENJOY!
*don't forget to drink your water!

Day break: Egg wrap

Egg Wrap
1 whole egg w/ a little skim milk (cooked in microwave in 45 sec. intervals for about 1:30-2 min)
1 flat out wrap (heated for 10-15 sec.)
1 slice swiss cheese (I tore it into pieces and placed on wrap)
Onion, tomato, romaine
Hummus and spicy mustard on wrap
Pepper

1. Cook egg
2. Open wrap and spread with hummus and mustard. Top w/ cheese.
3. Add veggies and top with egg. Season with pepper.
4. Close wrap.
*Recommended - PANINI maker!! I LOVE it!

Avocado, Chickpea and Walnut salad

Avocado, Chickpea and Walnut salad
1 can chickpeas
2 tsp hot sauce (your favorite, opt for less than 50mg of sodium per tsp)
Garlic (1 clove, shredded)
1 tsp olive oil

Romaine lettuce
Onion
Green pepper
Carrots (shredded)
Feta (a little on top)
Walnuts (a little on top, chopped)
Tomatoes
Pepper
*dressing: balsamic or salsa

1. In a medium pot, on medium heat, add olive oil and chopped/shredded garlic.
2. Add can of chickpeas and cook covered for 10 min (lightly stirring every 2-3 minutes). *you will have leftovers for the chickpeas.
3. Chop the rest of your ingredients (I used 1/2 avocado for me and 1/2 for Karel)
4. Place all ingredients in a bowl, top with feta, chickpeas and walnuts.
Enjoy!

Veggie-packed Casserole

Enjoy!
*Feel free to use your favorite selection of veggies and other ingredients...you can't go wrong!


Veggie-packed Casserole
1/2 can corn
1/2 can peas
2 large steak tomatoes
3 cloves garlic (chopped)
1/4 cup jalepenos (jar)
1/2 medium onion (chopped)
10 baby carrots (chopped)
10 large whole mushrooms (chopped)
2 tbsp flax
2 tbsp wheat germ
1 cup brown rice (cooked)
1 can black beans
1 small green pepper (chopped)
1/4 cup oats
1 tbsp olive oil
Curry powder, pepper (about 1-2 tsp each)
Topping:
2 x 2 eggs (1 whole, 1 white) + splash of milk (scrambled)
Sprinkle of yellow cornmeal (you can use wheat flour)
Sunflower seeds

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Spray a nonstick baking loaf with non-stick spray (this will make 2 large casseroles so be prepared to use 2 loaf pans).
3. Mix together all ingredients in a very large bowl, except topping.
4. Place 1/2 mixture into baking pan, or until 3/4th full.
5. Sprinkle a little cornmeal on mixture in pan.
6. Spread egg mixture (2eggs+milk) over cornmeal and top with a few pinches of sunflower seeds.
7. Repeat for the other loaf pan. I made a sardine (canned) casserole for Karel with the other 1/2 of my casserole.
8. Bake for 45-50 min.
*if using a glass casserole dish (like my sardine picture) only bake for 25-30 min.

5, 10, 25 min. meals

I have created 3 easy and quick meals for you to enjoy. Be creative and add your own spin on breakfast, lunch and dinner.


Breakfast - fruity crunchy oatmeal
TIME: 5 minutes
(I don't measure but I want to provide some measurements to get you started)
1/3 cup oats
1/4 cup skim milk (+ 3/4 cup for drinking with breakfast)
1 tbsp golden raisins
1 tbsp chopped walnuts
1 tbsp flax seeds
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
Fruit: strawberries, peaches, banana, blueberries (sliced)
Topping: Kashi Go lean crunch

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir (except topping).
2. Microwave for 3 min (be sure you use a big bowl to prevent an overflow).
3. Stir and top with 1/4-1/3 cup topping (your fav. crunchy cereal)





Fruity snack
Time: 5 minutes
Chop up a bunch of fruit and store in Tupperware container


Childhood lunch w/ snacks
TIME: 10 min.

1 sandwich thin (or your fav. bread)
1 tbsp natural PB
1 tbsp low sugar jelly
sunflower seeds
Apple slices
Cinnamon

1. Spread PB on one side of toasted thin. Top with apple.
2. Spread jelly on other side of thin. Top with sunflower seeds and cinnamon.
3. Close and wrap in tinfoil.

Extra's:
Sliced fruit (apples) - for when you want a light snack or a pre-meal snack
Whole fruit (nectarine) - for when you want something sweet
Trail mix (cherrios, walnuts, peanuts, raisins) - for when you want something savory and filling
Carrots
Grapes
Strawberries
Yogurt (not pictured) - I threw it in last minute
String cheese (part-skim) - I usually have one in my lunch









Everything salad
Time: 25 minutes

Eggs
Walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds
Sharp shredded cheese
Chives
Oranges
Plum
Green pepper
Carrots (shredded)
Tomatoes
Celery
Cucumber
Bag of spinach

1. Place 6 eggs (use some for leftovers) in water (covering eggs) in a large pot.
2. Turn to high and when water boils, reduce heat to low and cook for 12 more minutes.
3. Chop/combine all other ingredients while eggs are cooking.

Heart-Healthy Leftovers

Veggie stir-fry:
Eggplant
Mushroom
Onion
Green bell pepper
Garlic
Olive oil
Balsamic
Sliced almonds (Added at the end)

For dinner I needed a bit more protein and carbs to make the meal a bit more balanced so I added some quinoa and scrambled eggs w/ chives, cheese and tomatoes for a super yummy dinner. Last minute I decided to throw on some mango just to brighten my plate. YUM!

Here's my leftover

From this meal



Which turned into lunch the next day...



I just love coming home to a ready-made salad. It makes me so happy to know that spending a little time after dinner (20 min) to chop some veggies makes for a super healthy go-to salad the next day. Plus, it gives me more time to walk with Campy. We both LOVE the outdoors!

Fruity salad
Cherries
Mango
Grapes
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Chives
Soy nuts
Green peppers
Almonds (sliced)

Curried Tofu and Peanut Butter Banana Nut Mini Muffins

Curried Tofu
(Laura modified the recipe a bit but it was SUPER yummy. She served it with Jasmine rice and a salad)


Ingredients

* 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
* 1 (15-ounce) package reduced-fat firm tofu, drained and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup light coconut milk
* 1 teaspoon curry powder
* 1 cup precut matchstick-cut carrots
* 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
* 1 (15 1/4-ounce) can pineapple chunks in juice, drained
* 1 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced
* 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

Preparation

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add tofu, and sprinkle with salt. Cook 8 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Remove from pan; keep warm.

Add coconut milk and curry powder to pan, and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add carrots, crushed red pepper, pineapple, and bell pepper; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in tofu. Sprinkle with basil.


(Camera phone)


Peanut Butter Banana Nut Mini Muffins
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oats
1.5 tsp cinnamon
.5 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp baking powder
Dash of all spice
Pinch of nutmeg
1 egg + 1 egg white
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp ground flax seeds
1 apple (shredded w/ skin - I used gala)
3 tbsp chopped nuts
1 1/2 tbsp creamy natural PB
1 cup banana (mashed)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine all ingredients, mix well.
3. Spoon mixture into mini or large muffin tin (sprayed with a little non stick spray).
4. Bake for 15-20 min or until top of muffin is firm to the touch.


(Karel has my camera so I used my camera phone)

*This recipe came out super yummy! One of my favorites, that's for sure!

Noodley Scrambled Omelet

Noodly Scrambled Omelet
Leftover cooked pasta (1/3-1/2 cup per person)
2 eggs (1 white + 1 whole) + 2-3 tbsp skim milk (per person)
Veggies: mushrooms, green peppers, purple onions, tomato (roma), garlic (2 cloves chopped), spinach (you can never have too much of each)
1/4 container (per person) firm tofu (cubed)
2 tsp olive oil
Optional: hot sauce (less than 50mg of sodium per serving) and peanuts

1. Add olive oil to pan and heat to medium heat.
2. Add chopped veggies and tofu and stir. Cook for 6-8 min. Then add pasta (reheated for 45 sec.) and stir.
3. While veggies are cooking, scramble eggs in small bowl.
4. Remove veggie mixture and scramble eggs in pan (may need to use a little non stick spray).
5. Combine eggs w/ veggies and top with a little hot sauce and peanuts.

Fruity Oatmeal

Warm fruity oatmeal
Fruit: peach, banana, strawberries, blueberries
1/2 cup skim milk
1 tbsp flax seeds
1/3 - 1/2 cup
Cinnamon
Walnuts
Topping: cereal (Kashi Crunch)

extra: 1 tsp glutamine

1. Mix together cinnamon, flax seeds (ground) and milk in a medium-sized bowl.
2. Place fruit (sliced) in bowl and top with walnuts.
3. Add a little water to meet your consistency needs (typically I fill my oatmeal up so that you can still see the top of the oatmeal mixture but it isn't covering the oatmeal mixture).
4. Microwave for 2:45-3 min. Keep an eye on it for overflowing. May need to mix around 90 sec.
5. Stir oatmeal when finished (add optional gluatmine) and top with dry cereal.

Mexican Night

Mexican Salad
Dark Green Lettuce
Tomatoes
Corn
Black Beans
Jalapenos
Green pepper
Egg (hardboiled)
Garlic (shredded)
Purple Onion
Basil leaves
Oregano leaves
Parsley leaves
Avocado



Homemade Cornbread
1/2 cup corn
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup chopped Jalepenos
2 tsp curry powder
1 egg
1 tsp pepper
1/4 cup skim milk
3-4+ tbsp water (keep adding tbsp water until mixture is like light and fluffy pancake batter)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Combine all ingredients in bowl and stir until well combined.
3. Pour into a non-stick round baking dish (sprayed with a little non stick spray) for 12-15 min or until firm on top (and edges are brown).

Scrambled eggs w/ toast and Veggies w/ Pasta

The meals I have for you today are likely typical meals that you may consume on a weekly basis. I have scrambled eggs and pasta w/ veggies. I decided to get a little creative with these meals...I hope you enjoy!

Scrambled eggs w/ toast
2 egg whites + 1 whole egg
2-3 tbsp skim milk
Veggies: Spinach, roma tomato, green bell pepper, garlic
2 pieces rye bread

1. Microwave eggs and milk for 2 min (stopping to scramble every 40-50 sec to prevent popping of eggs).
2. Toast bread.
3. Combine veggies w/ eggs and scramble in tupperware container.
4. Crumble bread in your scrambled mixture. Cover and give a shake or two.





Veggies w/ Pasta
1 serving pasta (per person)
Veggie mixture: Black beans, chickpeas, corn, mushrooms, spinach, green peppers, tomatoes, onion, garlic, zucchini
1/4 cup tofu (per person)
1 egg (per person)
1 tbsp olive oil

1. Cook pasta in large pot.
2. While pasta is cooking, cook veggies in large skillet w/ 1/2 tbsp olive oil on medium heat. Stir occasionally.
3. When veggies are soft and slightly golden, add crumbled tofu and egg(s). Mixture together veggies w/ egg and tofu for 2-3 minutes.
4. When pasta is finished cooking, remove from large pot and drain.
5. Add veggie mixture to large pot.
6. Place 1 serving cooked pasta (per person) on veggie mixture (in large pot) and add 1/2 tbsp olive oil and your choice of no salt seasonings (ex. pepper).
7. Serve 1 - 1 1/2 cups veggie and pasta mix per person and enjoy!