Almond Butter

Finely grind

1 cup roasted almonds in a food processor,
then add 2 teaspoons vegetable oil and a pinch of salt and blend into a smooth paste.

Store in the refrigerator, in an airtight container, for up to 2 weeks.

Flank Steak Pinwheels

I don't eat much red meat now but when I do have a craving, this is the perfect steak to make with a wonderful veggie filled salad and a nice green veggie.

Laughing Cow Lite cheese will work great or they offer other lite low fat cheese smears now that will work.


Ingredients

* 2/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, (not packed in oil)
* 2 cups boiling water
* 1 pound flank steak, trimmed of fat
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 3 tablespoons light herbed cheese spread, such as Laughing Cow or any other
* 1 cup baby spinach
* 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper



Preparation

1. Preheat grill to high.

2. Place sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl; pour boiling water over them and let steep until softened, about 10 minutes. Drain and chop.

3. Meanwhile, place steak between 2 large pieces of plastic wrap. Pound each side of the steak thoroughly with the pointed side of a meat mallet until the steak is an even 1/4-inch thickness.

4. Rub garlic all over one side of the steak. Spread cheese lengthwise in a 3-inch-wide strip down the middle of the steak. Top with the sun-dried tomatoes and spinach. Starting at one edge of a long side, roll the steak up tightly, tucking in the filling as you go.

5. Carefully rub salt and pepper all over the outside of the steak roll. Turn the roll so the overlapping edge is on top. Push 8 skewers, evenly spaced, through the roll, close to the overlapping edge to hold the roll together. Slice the roll into 8 equal portions, roughly 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick, with a skewer in each. Lay the slices on their sides and push the skewer through so it sticks out about 1 inch.

6. Oil the grill rack (see Tip). Grill the pinwheels 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Use a spatula when turning them to prevent too much filling from falling out. (Don't worry if the ends of the skewers burn. They will still hold the pinwheels together.) Remove the skewers; let the pinwheels rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Found recipe on the Eating Well website


4 servings

Active Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Grilled Herb Shrimp

(courtesy of Ina Garten)
Ingredients

* 2 pounds large shrimp (16 to 20 per pound), peeled and deveined
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 medium yellow onion, small-diced
* 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
* 1/4 cup minced fresh basil
* 1 teaspoon dry mustard
* 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
* 2 teaspoons kosher salt
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1/4 cup good olive oil
* 1 lemon, juiced



Combine all the ingredients and allow them to marinate for 1 hour at room temperature or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Skewer the shrimp. I use 3 or 4 shrimp on a 12-inch skewer for dinner. Heat a grill with coals and brush the grill with oil to prevent the shrimp from sticking. Grill the shrimp for only 1 1/2 minutes on each side.

Lay It On Me! Lemon Tahini Dressing

I like to watch The Biggest Loser and found this recipe on their site today.
I can admit, I'm getting tired of the same ol dressing on my greens.
This had a bite to it and was a nice change on my salad.

½ cup tahini
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, minced (note: use less garlic for mild flavor)
2 tablespoons Bragg Liquid Aminos or low sodium soy sauce
½ teaspoon basil, dried
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon salt
Water

1. In a blender, mix all ingredients until smooth.

2. Add water to desired consistency.

3. Store refrigerated in a container with a tight-fitting lid.

Note: Dressing thickens as it sits and with refrigeration.

Serves Ten
Serving Size: 2 tablespoons

Nutrition Analysis per Serving: 80 calories, 6.5 grams fat, 2.5 grams protein, 3.5 grams carbohydrates, 170 milligrams sodium.

10 Mistakes Dieters Make

“Eat healthy foods and exercise.”

I ran across this article online and thought I would share.

Did you know, for example, that drinking diet soda can make you fat? And so can eating low-carb protein bars and eliminating fruit! Here, for a refreshing change of pace, are the top 10 things you shouldn’t do if you want to lose weight and keep it off long term:

1. Eat too little or infrequently. Keep moods and energy up, hunger satisfied, and metabolism in high gear by eating three meals and two to three snacks a day. Don’t skip breakfast!

2. Eliminate all fruits. Extremely low-carb diets that forbid fruit are punishing and invite cheating. Stay on track with moderate portions of fiber- and nutrient-rich strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, kiwi, grapefruit, or peaches.

3. Eliminate fats. Several studies at Harvard and elsewhere prove that low-fat diets result in weight gain. To lose weight, you need to increase your consumption of good fats (monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats).

4. Get snacks out of your kitchen. Snacking helps with weight loss. Make sure you replace commercial baked goods, candy, chips, crackers, cookies, and pretzels with healthy snacks such as hard-boiled eggs, cheese, celery, nuts, sugar-free gum, homemade “slow-carb” bars and muffins, protein shakes, cucumbers, yogurt, and sugar-free JELL-O.

5. Splurge away from home. Your healthy eating program is a way of life. Try to stick to your new behaviors and habits everywhere you eat–at restaurants, friends’ homes, and while traveling.

6. Consume lots of artificially sweetened foods and beverages. Artificial sweeteners trigger cravings for additional sweets in some people. Others gain “false fat” or bloating caused by the body’s inability to digest sugar substitutes.

7. Count calories. Hormone (insulin) levels, not calories, are what determine your metabolism — the rate at which you burn fat. Eat balanced meals to keep your insulin levels steady and your metabolism working efficiently.

8. Eat lots of commercial low-carb products. Many companies have jumped on the “low-carb” bandwagon with high-calorie, low-nutrition snack foods that will not help you change your eating habits or lose weight.

9. Adopt a rigorous exercise routine. Exercise is important, but daily activity that you enjoy and can sustain over a lifetime is more important than killer workouts that are hard to stick with. The name of the weight-loss game is adopting habits that become second nature.

10. Load up on protein, eliminate carbs. Protein-loading has serious health risks, and few people can stay on radical high protein, low-carb diets long term. Switch to a balanced diet that features healthy amounts of protein balanced with lots of high-quality “slow carbs” — carbohydrates that convert slowly into blood sugar.

Brought to you by Ediets.com

Brown rice pasta with sauted garlic and veggies

A dear friend of mine brought me a bag of brown rice pasta for me to try. It was $5 at my local grocery store but he found it for $2.50 at a store called Fresh & Easy.

A few friends suggested some things I could add to it for a healthy meal.

I took out my Biggest Loser food scale and measured out 2oz of pasta.

I cooked the pasta for about 10 min. It smells like your cooking rice. I drained well and rinsed the cook pasta because it did have a film on it.

While the pasta was cooking I put the following in a pan and sauted till tender:

1 T Olive Oil
2 T Minced Garlic
1 T Low Salt Soy Sauce
Frozen Broccoli and Cauliflower (as much as you want)
I added about 2 T of water so it wouldn't burn.

Simmer until veggies are tender and mix in with the pasta.

It was a delish meal.

Dairy Free Buttermilk Pancakes

My amazing niece, Martha, gave me this recipe that she loves to make. I had to ask, "Do they taste good?" LOL and she responded with a huge YES... So please give them a try some weekend.

These loveable little hotcakes will put a smile on your child's face, and with wholesome ingredients like whole wheat, honey and walnuts, they'll put a smile on yours as well.

Serves 6 kids
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:

* 1½ cups soymilk
* 1 ½ T. apple cider vinegar
* 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cups wheat flour
* 1/4 cups oat flour
* 2 T. ground walnuts (or other nut meal of choice)
* 1 ½ t. baking powder
* ½ t . baking soda
* ¼ t. salt
* 1/4 cup honey
* 1 egg

Preparation:

1. In a small bowl or pitcher, combine the soymilk and the vinegar, mixing well. Set aside for about 10 minutes, or until mixture has thickened.

2. In a medium-sized bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. In another small bowl, whisk together the honey and egg until combined. Add the egg mixture to the thickened soymilk mixture, mixing well. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing until batter is just combined and slightly lumpy.
3. Make the teddybear cakes. Heat a small amount of oil in a heavy bottomed skillet or griddle over medium heat. 1/4 cup at a time, add the batter to the heated skillet, dropping in three circles, one larger one with two smaller ones in the place where teddybear ears would be (try to imagine a clock, and drop the smaller circles at 10 and 2). Flip carefully with a heatproof spatula when bubbles begin to appear on the surface. Serve with honey, powdered sugar, walnuts or fruit.

Courtesy of dairyfreecooking.about.com