Recipe of the Week: Tuscan-Style Tuna Salad

Recipe of the Week: Catalan Sauteed Polenta & Butter Beans

Recipe of the Week: Creamy Avocado & White Bean Wrap

Recipe of the Week: Vanilla-Orange Freezer Pops

Recipe of the Week: Tilapia & Summer Vegetable Packets

Recipe of the Week: Spinach Salad with Steak & Blueberries

SUMMER IS THE SEASON OF THE BERRY!

Summer Berries

Delicious, colourful berries are in season. Here's what to do with them. Temporarily stained fingers and tongues are a cheap price to pay for the oodles of health benefits and bold, sweet flavours of berries — available all summer long. When colourful punnets of these warm-weather staples start appearing in abundance on market shelves, grab them, as there's very little you can't do with this versatile fruit.

Health Benefits

If you add one food to your diet this year, make it berries. They taste great and are very nutritious. Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries are rich in antioxidants, which may reduce the risk of certain types of cancer.

Selecting and Storing
When choosing berries, be sure to examine the punnet carefully for any signs of mould. Once mould has started it can spread quickly from berry to berry. Shop at supermarkets, or fruit markets with a high turnover, or at farmer's markets where the food has travelled the shortest distance, to ensure the freshest fruit. Because berries are fragile, keep them in their original containers or arrange them in a shallow pan (to reduce pressure from stacking), cover them with a paper towel and put them in the fridge. Don't wash them until just before you're ready to use them.
Blueberries freeze especially well. Arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze until hardened, then transfer them to a resealable bag. Incidentally, frozen berries taste great and retain much of their nutritional value. In a pinch, you can substitute them for fresh in baking and smoothies. In fact you'll find that frozen berries are actually better to bake with than fresh berries. The juice from fresh berries has a tendency to bleed into cake and pancake mixture.


Cooking with Berries
Keep a punnet or two on hand in the fridge all week. Their price goes down significantly when they're in season and given their health benefits, you'll want to enjoy them in these ways and others:

• Toss a handful of berries into your morning cereal to pump up its nutritional value.
  
  
• Start off the day with a fresh berry smoothie: Blend a mix of whatever berries you have on hand with half a banana some low fat plain yogurt and skimmed milk. Sweeten it with a bit of honey if necessary.
  
  
• Fold a handful of berries into your low fat or fat free yogurt.
  
  
• For a berry sauce to drizzle over pancakes, or fresh or frozen yogurt, puree 150g berries with 50g sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice until smooth. Fold in another 150g whole berries with a spoon.
  
  
• Top a bed of greens with a few berries and a tangy vinaigrette.
  
  
• Marinate (yes, actually marinate) strawberries with 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and 1 tbs of icing sugar, for a very Italian take on dessert.
•  http://www.weightwatchers.co.uk/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=30271

Recipe of the Week: Grilled Chicken Tenders with Cilantro Pesto

Try This Summer Recipe!!

Simple Exercise Routines at the Gym or Home!

 

3-2-1  Treadmill Routine

8 Minute At-Home Cardio Circuit:

60 jumping jacks

2 minutes jump rope

60 high knees

60 butt kicks

40 crunches

20 reverse crunches

1 minute rest

     iowagirleats.com

Spring Asparagus...Try It!



 Try this lovely vegetable roasted with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper.  Pop it in the oven for about 15 minutes at 400 degress, dress with some coarse sea salt, or tie with roasted scallions, and enjoy! 

This gem can be served on a veggie tray, too!  Just blanch for about one minute, shock in ice water, and serve with your favorite dip or humus.  It's a fun twist on the typical carrots and celery platter!

Per Food Network

Italian Sausage and Veggie Pasta

Ingredients
2 ounces uncooked whole wheat pasta
1/2 cup spaghetti sauce
1 precooked Italian-style chicken sausage, sliced into rounds
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Make It
Cook pasta according to package directions. Heat spaghetti sauce, sausage, garlic, and vegetables for about 12 minutes, until veggies are tender. Top pasta with sauce mixture and sprinkle with cheese.


Recipe provided by:
http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/quick-recipes/dinner/easy-healthy-pasta-recipes/?page=2

5 Easy Lunch for Kid Ideas

 

By Sherrie Le Masurier

When it comes to kid-friendly lunches some of the best lunches are the ones kids can make themselves. We have an easy lunch for kid rule in our house. At least once a week our children aged 11 and 13 make their own lunches.
Over the years, their list of easy lunch for kid favorites has grown to include some really good food selections. Today both children can whip up their lunches at lightening speed and the best part aside from the ease of assembly is that they’re packing something they enjoy.

So in honor of my children and their easy lunch for kid homemade recipes, here are some of their favorites.

Sandwich Roll Ups

Mini Subs

Homemade Lunchables

Cold Dogs

Lunchtime Leftovers

An easy lunch for kid idea is as close as your kitchen cupboard. Be creative and suggest some new food combinations, you may be surprised how well they go over!

To view full article visit:
http://www.school-lunch-ideas.com/

Grab n Go!

Fresh Berry Muffins

2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons fat free sour cream
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons low-fat milk
1 large egg
1 cup unbleached white flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons Splenda
1 1/4 cup chopped strawberries (or substitute any fresh berries, unchopped)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners (you'll need about 11 liners).
• Add oil, sour cream, milk, and egg to mixing bowl and beat until smooth; set aside.
• In a large bowl, add flours, salt, baking powder, sugar and Splenda; whisk to blend well. Add the chopped strawberries to the flour mixture and toss well to coat them with flour. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir to blend together well.
• Put 1/4 cup of the batter in each muffin cup. Bake until the tops bounce back when gently pressed (about 20 minutes). Cool muffins about 10 minutes.

Yield: 11 muffins
Per muffin: 136 calories, 4 g protein, 23 g carbohydrate, 3.4 g fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 20 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 201 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 22%.

Article Link: http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/celebrate-summers-bounty?page=2

Back to School Snack

  

  

Easy for parents and Healthy for kids!

 Yogurt Popsicle

1 c. plain yogurt
1 banana, sliced
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. fruit juice or fruit chunks

This is a very basic recipe that can be change so many ways to please your kids. Try thier favorite friuts, juices, and  flavors of yogurt.

Blend ingredients together and pour into small paper cups. Freeze. Place a plastic spoon, popsicle stick or better yet a pretzel rod in each cup when yogurt mixture is half frozen. To serve, turn cups upside down and run warm water over it until the popsicle slips out. Let children keep the cups to use as a holder. Makes 4-5 small popsicles.

Jenny's Grilled Chicken Breasts

Prep Time:          Cook Time:          Ready Time:
15 mins               30 mins                45 mins

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• ground black pepper to taste
• seasoning salt to taste
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley

Directions

1. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat, and lightly oil grate.
2. Dip chicken in lemon juice, and sprinkle with the onion powder, ground black pepper, seasoning salt and parsley. Discard any remaining lemon juice.
3. Cook on the prepared grill 10 to 15 minutes per side, or until no longer pink and juices run clear.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 139 | Total Fat: 1.5g | Cholesterol: 68mg

Servings Per Recipe: 4

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 139     VIEW DETAILED NUTRITION

Provided by Allrecipes.com