Lasagna Soup

This is one of my favorite soups to make.  
1/2 lb. Italian sausage
1/2 lb. ground beef
1.5 tsp of salt, optional
1.5 c. chopped onion
1.5 c. carrots
6 cloves minced garlic
7 cups chicken broth
3 c. of canned diced tomatoes
1.5 c. marinara sauce
1/2 tsp oregano, thyme, basil, parsley
1/4 lb egg noodles
brown sausage/beef with salt.  add carrots and onions.  saute for 3 minutes.  add garlic, saute for 3 more.  add broth, tomatoes, marinara sauce and herbs. bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until carrots are tender.
add egg noodle pasta, bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes or until noodles are cooked.
enjoy with Parmesan and/or mozzarella cheese.

Have a Healthy Weekend!

Hope your Thanksgiving was great! Here's some post-Thanksgiving pre-Christmas articles!

What to do with all that left-over turkey!

The tastiest and healthiest pies.

A healthy and minimalist menu for upcoming holiday dinners.

Your holiday stay-slim guide.

Your black Friday 101 guide.

Enjoy the holiday weekend...and get some good deals!

Need some last minute recipes?

I found this great site, Simply Recipes. It's a family blog type thing and all the recipes have been tried at home. They have a fair amount of recipes, and one section for Thanksgiving. Sweet!

You can also browse the budget, low carb, quick, and a great tips section. I love it! Tonight I made spinach following their recipe and it was pretty good!

Good luck cooking!

What I'm Eating This Thanksgiving:

Here's some of my favorite family recipes. The first, mac & cheese in a family staple. No occasion or event or celebration or dinner is ever held without it. It is that good. The second is a fruit salad that we haven't had for a few years, but I'm going to make it this year. Enjoy! What are some of your favorite foods from Thanksgiving?

Macaroni & Cheese

3 c. macaroni (cooked) (don't make that mistake -- I have)
2 small cans of tomato soup
1/2 - 2/3rds lb cubed cheese (cheddar or colby jack work great)
salt & pepper

Mix together and place in an oven safe dish. Cut little pieces of butter to put on top. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 55 minutes. Uncover and bake for about 10 minutes, until the edges are cooked. enjoy!

Cranberry Pineapple frozen salad

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
20 oz drained crushed pineapple
1/2 c chopped pecans (I leave those out just because I don't like nuts but... either way..)
1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
2 c mini marshmallows
8 oz cool whip

Mix together. Put in 9x13 pan (spray w/ cooking spray) and freeze until firm.

Hanging onto summer

Here are some recipes from yoplait.com that sound soo good. For the most part, especially if you use frozen (then thawed) or canned fruit, you can easily make these even as we move into December.

Fresh Fruit Tart (ha, or maybe thawed fruit)

1 box lemon cake mix
1/2 c. butter/marg. softened
1 egg
2 cups vanilla yogurt
1 box instant pudding and pie filling mix
3 cups sliced fruit, berries, mandarin segments
3 tbsp apricot preserves preheat oven to

375 (350 for dark/nonstick)

grease pizza pan. mix cake mix, butter and egg until crumbly. press on pan. bake 14 - 18 minutes. cool completely. beat yogurt and pudding (dry) med. speed until blended. spread over baked layer, and arrange fruit. heat preserves until melted and brush over. serve/store within 24 hours. (don't leave out for more than 2!)

Banana Split Tart

1 box refrigerated pie crust
1/2 c. semi sweet chips, melted
1 c. yogurt (vanilla or strawberry)
2 small bananas, sliced
1 can (21 oz) strawberry pie filling
1 c. fresh (or thawed) strawberries

preheat oven to 375.

unroll 1 crust flat, centered on ungreased cookie sheet. place 2nd crust on top, pressing to seal and roll our to 14 in. round. fold 1/2 in. of crust, forming a border. seal with fluted edge. prick generously with a fork. bake 20 - 25 minutes. cool for 30 minutes. spread 1/4 c. of melted chocolate and yogurt. add banana slices and pie filling. then strawberries and drizzle with remaining chocolate.

yum!

have a healthy weekend!

Need some more Thanksgiving food ideas? Here's some delicious looking sides! (and why we eat what we do for Thanksgiving).

While you're making all those great dishes, here's how to not get super-stressed about it.

And don't make these: 13 fattiest Thanksgiving foods. (bacon/apple pie? cute mashed potato sundae and krispy kreme for dessert....yum!)

Everything you need to know about turkey for Thanksgiving.

10 forgotten winter fruits and veggies and how to cook with them.

Some yummy fall casseroles.

Gourmet meals in less than 20 minutes? Yes, please!

How to make a healthier sandwich.

Here's some healthy living tips

Five healthy snacks that fill you up.

Everything you ever wanted to know about fruit.

10 exercise secrets

Successful exercise tips

One more set of tips. Including: when to eat, different kinds of exercise and sports drinks

10 tips for healthy eating in college.

College eating and fitness tips 101.

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no bake cookies

Have you ever tried these? They are super easy, require no sweating AND they are packed with heart-healthy oatmeal. I just googled a recipe for "easy no bake cookie recipe" (or something) and browsed a bit until I found one. I found this at about.com. There are probably more sophisticated websites but...this one worked (and tasted great!)

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces butter or margarine (one stick)
  
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups sugar (I used that, but I think next time I'd just use one. That's a lot of sugar)
  
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 3 to 4 tablespoons peanut butter, optional (I used it and I liked it. Adds a little something)
  
• 3 cups oats, quick or old-fashioned
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation:

Place chocolate chips, peanut butter (if used), oats, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Combine the margarine, milk, and sugar in a saucepan; bring to a rolling boil. Boil for 1 minute. Combine the hot mixture with the oatmeal and chocolate chip mixture; stir well. Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper.

Makes 2 dozen. I put one pan in the freezer for quick setting and it worked great!

Enjoy! (and while your at it, try these healthy cookie recipes or these)

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menu planning

I have tried and failed over the years to create menus. For a few months I or we did great. But then school gets in the way and I don't want to make anything that takes longer than 10 minutes. Sound familiar? There are plenty of meal ideas that I have that are yummy, usually healthy and pretty quick. For some reason, menu planning in school is tricky! I've tried calendars and lists...and while they don't work for too long...I won't get discouraged yet!

One tip my mom gave me and that I've found a few places is to spend an evening and cook chicken and hamburger or sausage and then refrigerate or freeze. Then, when you want some tacos or soup or pasta and chicken, you don't have the added step of cooking the meat.

At the more matters website, they have so many great tips on menu planning. They are tried and true principles that if you can pick just one or two, I think meals can be faster, healthier and cheaper.

And get this: they even have five weeks worth of planned menus complete with shopping list. Some of them may be complicated or expensive (they calculate the approximate price). If you find ideas with things you already have, are only cooking for 1 -2 people, it will be cheaper!

I definitely say take advantage of pre-planned menus as a way to kick-start your own. As previously posted, even picking two or three days when you make a more involved meal, you can have leftovers (of which I am a firm believer) and can have a healthy delicious meal.

I have great links to all sorts of recipes. Check them out!

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have a healthy weekend!

i'm sorry this is a bit later in the day. i've been feeling under the weather so today's posts isn't super long or from multiple sites. there should be enough to keep you occupied :)

how to survive anything. sweet.

focusing on your core can reduce the risk of diabetes and cancer. great tips for healthy strong abs.

here's one I found super useful. I eat too much all the time, and then feel sick for the rest of the night. here's how to fix that :)

best and worse appetizers.

all about calcium.

some ways to get a good night's sleep.

and...super cute/cool idea...a pie in a jar!

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30 ways in 30 days [part 3]

ways 21 - 30 on stretching your fruit and vegetable budget:

21. (not super applicable to all - sorry) Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) can be used to purchase vegetables

22. When trying new fruits and vegetables, buy in small amounts. Taste test before you change your list. (oh man, I struggle with that one).

23. Keep it simple. Buy dried beans, peas and lentils in their raw or uncooked form instead of the processed and packaged versions which cost more. (and here's how to cook them)

24. Avoid buying single servings. Small packages are often more expensive than buying in larger amounts. Freeze!

25. Shop at discount grocery stores. (BUY LOW!)

26. Shop at large grocery stores instead of small convenience stores when possible as their prices and variety differ greatly: cheaper and more.

27. To make many fresh fruits and vegetables last longer, store them in refrigerator or freezer soon after getting home.

28. Clearly label foods in the freezer and refrigerator with contents and date to stay with in a safe time frame.

29. Get creative! Make salsa from tomatoes and smoothies from your fruits. Find recipes at more matters.

30. Buy frozen fruits and vegetables in large bags to stretch your budget (ie green beans and blueberries). Avoid those with added sugar, salt or sauce.

source of 30 ways

a healthy relationship with food

food, hunger & diet tips:

1. Reject the Diet Mentality - Throw out the diet books and magazine articles that offer you false hope of losing weight quickly, easily, and permanently. Get angry at the lies that have led you to feel as if you were a failure every time a new diet stopped working and you gained back all of the weight. If you allow even one small hope to linger that a new and better diet might be lurking around the corner, it will prevent you from being free to rediscover Intuitive Eating.

2. Honor Your Hunger - Keep your body biologically fed with adequate energy and carbohydrates. Otherwise you can trigger a primal drive to overeat. Once you reach the moment of excessive hunger, all intentions of moderate, conscious eating are fleeting and irrelevant. Learning to honor this first biological signal sets the stage for re-building trust with yourself and food.

3. Make Peace with Food - Call a truce, stop the food fight! Give yourself unconditional permission to eat. If you tell yourself that you can't or shouldn't have a particular food, it can lead to intense feelings of deprivation that build into uncontrollable cravings and, often, bingeing When you finally “give-in” to your forbidden food, eating will be experienced with such intensity, it usually results in Last Supper overeating, and overwhelming guilt.

4. Challenge the Food Police - Scream a loud "NO" to thoughts in your head that declare you're "good" for eating under 1000 calories or "bad" because you ate a piece of chocolate cake. The Food Police monitor the unreasonable rules that dieting has created . The police station is housed deep in your psyche, and its loud speaker shouts negative barbs, hopeless phrases, and guilt-provoking indictments. Chasing the Food Police away is a critical step in returning to Intuitive Eating.

5. Respect Your Fullness - Listen for the body signals that tell you that you are no longer hungry. Observe the signs that show that you're comfortably full. Pause in the middle of a meal or food and ask yourself how the food tastes, and what is your current fullness level?

6. Discover the Satisfaction Factor - The Japanese have the wisdom to promote pleasure as one of their goals of healthy living In our fury to be thin and healthy, we often overlook one of the most basic gifts of existence--the pleasure and satisfaction that can be found in the eating experience. When you eat what you really want, in an environment that is inviting and conducive, the pleasure you derive will be a powerful force in helping you feel satisfied and content. By providing this experience for yourself, you will find that it takes much less food to decide you've had "enough".

7. Honor Your Feelings Without Using Food - Find ways to comfort , nurture, distract, and resolve your issues without using food. Anxiety, loneliness, boredom, anger are emotions we all experience throughout life. Each has its own trigger, and each has its own appeasement. Food won't fix any of these feelings. It may comfort for the short term, distract from the pain, or even numb you into a food hangover. But food won't solve the problem. If anything, eating for an emotional hunger will only make you feel worse in the long run. You'll ultimately have to deal with the source of the emotion, as well as the discomfort of overeating.

8. Respect Your Body - Accept your genetic blueprint. Just as a person with a shoe size of eight would not expect to realistically squeeze into a size six, it is equally as futile (and uncomfortable) to have the same expectation with body size. But mostly, respect your body, so you can feel better about who you are. It's hard to reject the diet mentality if you are unrealistic and overly critical about your body shape.

9. Exercise--Feel the Difference - Forget militant exercise. Just get active and feel the difference. Shift your focus to how it feels to move your body, rather than the calorie burning effect of exercise. If you focus on how you feel from working out, such as energized, it can make the difference between rolling out of bed for a brisk morning walk or hitting the snooze alarm. If when you wake up, your only goal is to lose weight, it's usually not a motivating factor in that moment of time.

10 Honor Your Health- Gentle Nutrition Make food choices that honor your health and taste buds while making you feel well. Remember that you don't have to eat a perfect diet to be healthy. You will not suddenly get a nutrient deficiency or gain weight from one snack, one meal, or one day of eating. It's what you eat consistently over time that matters, progress not perfection is what counts.

originally from here, discovered here.

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30 ways in 30 days [part 2]

ways 11 - 20 on stretching your fruit and vegetable budget:

11. Homemade soup is a healthy and tasty way to use vegetables. Make a big batch and freeze leftovers.

12. Looks for sales and deals on fruits and vegetables at the grocery store or through coupons.

13. Cut your fruits and vegetables at home. Pre-cut produce can cost much more than whole fruits and vegetables (and can go bad faster as well).

14. Don't shop hungry. Eat a health snack before shopping so you stick to your budget and avoid spending f/v money on less healthy temptations.

15. Maximize your time and money. Cut coupons for foods (such as f/v) only on your list.

16. Canned fruits and vegetables will last a long time and can be a healthy side to meals. Choose canned vegetables that have no added salt and fruit canned in 100% fruit juice.

17. Fruit and vegetables freeze well and you can store them until you're ready to add them to a meal.

18. Pick your own at local farms. Late summer and early fall is a great time to pick your own fruits and vegetables.

19. Dried fruit lasts for a long time. It can be more expensive, however, so buy with friends and split the cost, or find access to a drier and dry fruits your self.

20. Store brands can be a cheaper choice for fruits and vegetables.

have a healthy weekend!

Here are some secrets to a happy family.

I'm not sure about the pumpkin ravioli, but the heart-healthy sweet potato fries look delicious!

How to talk yourself into anything...

Wanting to change your behavior or weight? Get someone involved - like your family!

20 recipes that will lower your cholesterol (ice cream sandwiches included...)

As of late, I've been thinking I'm turning into a hypochondriac. Glad I'm not the only one...

Your what-to-eat guide.

It seems to happen to everyone: once you tie the knot...you start gaining a little weight. Here is how to not let that happen.

Here's some cooking 101.

Healthy snacks for the dorm (or any college apartment!).

Can you really pay off your sleep debt with just one weekend??
Mix - and - match meal plan!

10 best stress reducers.

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30 ways in 30 days

ways 1 - 10 on stretching your fruit and vegetable budget:

1. Calculate an appropriate Healthy Food Budget for your family. Use this easy calculator!

2. Cook enough for several meals and freeze leftovers.

3. Create a meal plan that uses similar fruits and vegetables in different ways. Make the most out of the produce you buy.

4. Buy fruits and vegetables in season at farmers' markets or at your grocery store

5. Grow your own vegetables. Invest a little, get a lot! Visit here for more information.

6. Mix it yourself. 100% juice from concentrate is often less expensive per serving than pre-bottled juice.

7. Minimize waste: only buy what you will eat!

8. Learn basic food math. With a food budget, decisions can be easier. Food math can help you decide if the watermelon or the bunch of grapes is a better buy.

9. Enjoy the comforts of home more often. Eating at restaurants increases the amount you spend on food. Include fruits and vegetables in quick, simple meals you prepare at home.

10. Be creative! To get the most out of your purchase, use fruits and vegetables in different ways. Here are some ways to liven up your fruits and veggies!

Antimicrobial Resistance

Alarming to physicians and patients, bacteria is becoming more increasingly resistant to antibiotics, such as penicillin. There are three main reasons why this is happening:

1. over prescribing and mis-prescribing

2. insufficient duration of treatment and misuse of antibiotics by patients

3. use of antibiotics as growth promoters in livestock

First, over and mis prescribing. This is when doctor's fail to completely examine a patient or give an antibiotic prescription not knowing if it is a virus or a bacteria. Antibiotics do not work against the flu and most colds. All it does then, is increase the bacteria in your body's resistance for next time. Make sure what you have is a bacterial infection before you take antibiotics. Know this, and if your doctor prescribes antibiotics, ask him whether or not your ailment is a virus or bacteria, or if you'd be fine not taking them. Do not insist on antibiotics if you have the flu or a cold. Treat the symptoms instead.

Second, insufficient duration and misuse. This is when a patient is directed to take antibiotics for 10 days, and after they feel better after 4, stop taking the medication. This causes most of your body's normal bacteria and the illness-causing bacteria to be mostly wiped out, but leaves enough left that what is left will mutate and evolve to now be resistant or more so to antibiotics. Next time, they won't work as well until they don't work at all. If you are given a prescriptions with duration instructions, follow them exactly, even if you are feeling well. If you have extra antibiotics in your home from not completing a duration of treatment, do not take those the next time you feel under the weather. Do not give them to others, take them yourself, or use them instead of a doctor's visits. Properly dispose of them.

Third, antibiotics as growth promoters. On farms, there are lots of chickens and they inbreed and are genetically altered to be bigger. This means greater susceptibility and one bacterial disease could wipe out an entire farm. To prevent this, low doses of antibiotics are placed in the food. When we eat the meat, we get the remnants of the antibiotics. Veterinarians and farmers argue that the antibiotics they use in the animal feed is different than antibiotics used for humans. While this is true, they are the same classes...so that doesn't make it any better. I'm not sure what you should do about this, necessarily. I'm not saying to not eat meat. Just be aware that this is a controversial issue.

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extra information:

- antibiotics are natural compounds produced by environmental microorganisms

- topical antibiotics are not a problem.

- because of this growing resistance, we soon will not be able to cure common diseases, and people will die from things we should be able to cure.

- something you can do to prevent resistance is to be vaccinated for diseases (such as the flu or pneumonia) that use antibiotics as a treatment. That way, you won't even have an issue.

- antibiotics work by finding a susceptible part of the bacteria and destroying it.

- in recent years, the production of antibiotics has gone down. This is a problem, as the current ones we have won't work after a few years. We need to continue production of antibiotics in order to prevent needless deaths from common bacterial infections.

- the CDC has a great page about antibiotic/antimicrobial resistance (all links on page).