Left Overs - Yummy!

I'm home alone for a few days.  I decided to use up some leftover onions and tomatoes from the weekend's Brat and Burger Bash.  Chopped 'em up and added them to a partial package of chopped cabbage.  I made a dressing by thinning down the meager amount of mayo left in the jar with some red wine vinegar, a tad of sugar and a bit of soy sauce.  

I'm here to tell you, it was DELICIOUS!

And FILLING!

I ate it during my Fast-5 "window", of course.

Fruit Smoothie

Wow!  I wish I'd have thought of this sooner!  What a treat. I placed a couple of very small cans of peaches in the freezer for just over an hour to freeze.

Then I emptied the frozen peaches & juice into the blender, added a little bit of skim milk & (I confess) sugar - a teaspoon or so.  You could certainly use artificial sweetener of course.  And I added about 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla to the mix.

Blend and enjoy.  This made two glassfuls.  We used spoons.

I'm already thinking of different canned fruits (or combinations) and flavorings to use.  What sounds good to YOU?

A Week of Soups

I picked up this book at our public library yesterday.  Having visited a monastery last spring, I was curious when I saw this on the shelf of recent additions to our library.  I was happy to find some interesting, healthy, and relatively easy recipes.  I found several soup recipes that I will make this week.  The Soup Section began with this quote:

"For the sake of losing a few pounds, accumulated during those endless agapes and festivities of the year's end, without having to fast or die of hunger, there is no better remedy than a good soup.  All it takes is a quick stop at the supermarket, some preparation, and then promptly the fresh aromas begin to emerge from the soup kettle."  (Isabelle Delaleu, French chef and dietician) 

After church this morning, we'll dine on a slow-cooker bean soup.  Then I'll make a QUICK STOP at the supermarket to purchase the ingredients for our week of soups!

Hearty Hamburger Soup I made earlier this week.  Yum!

Holiday Health Tip #8

Occasionally I trim fat and calories from a recipe by substituting applesauce in oil-based baked goods, like quick breads, muffins and some cakes.  There is only a slight change in taste and texture (typically sweeter and softer).

I'm told that  applesauce is not a great substitute for butter, and will lead to disaster in cookies and any other treat with a crispy snap--unless you like cake-y, mushy cookies.

Most sources recommend a 1:1 swap:  if the recipe calls for 1 cup of oil, substitute with 1 cup of applesauce. However, I say, "start easy!"  For a recipe that uses one cup of oil, use ½ cup of oil with ½ cup applesauce. If the finished product makes you happy, slightly increase the ratio of applesauce (2/3 applesauce: 1/3 oil; ¾ applesauce: ¼ oil) the next time to see how it affects the cake or muffin recipe. You may be able to do without oil completely, or you might find that as little as 1 or 2 tbsp. of oil added to the applesauce is ideal.