Healthy Eating, week of January 8

OK, as promised, my Minestrone recipe. I make it in a Crock Pot. A LARGE Crock Pot. It makes 7 quarts. I assume it would work in a pot on the stove with no problem.<br><br>
4 - 14.5 oz cans Low Sodium Vegetable Broth<br>
1 - 28 oz can diced tomatoes<br>
1 - 28 oz can crushed tomatoes<br>
1 - 14.5 oz can kidney beans with liquid<br>
1 - 14.5 oz can cannellini beans (white kidney beans or navy beans or great northern beans) with liquid<br>
1 - 1 lb package frozen Italian Style Green Beans (the flat, wide kind)<br>
2 - stalks celery chopped<br>
3 - carrots chopped<br>
1 - medium onion chopped<br>
1 - large potato cubed<br>
1 cup cubed zucchini (green squash for you purists)<br>
2 cups sliced cabbage (bagged cole slaw mix is OK)<br>
3 cloves crushed garlic<br>
1 1/2 tsp each oregano, thyme, basil<br><br>
Cook on low for 8 hours (or so)<br><br>
Optional: About 1/2 hour before serving, make some pasta of your choice to put some in the soup...<br><br>
Serve with some nice crusty multi-grain bread...yum<br><br>
This freezes well, and makes a ton. It has GOT to be low cal, high fiber, although I've never added it up. Also, if you wish, you can get sodium free tomatoes and beans<br><br>
Tomorrow...my (well, it belongs to Whole Foods) Lentil Chili recipe...then my wheat berry chili recipe, then my "garden" chili recipe...<br><br>

<p>Sounds yummy Tech Tee. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Still doing ok with my calories.  So far I am down .6 but I've been the same weight for three days now.  I did eat a Smores Bar.  But it was a fundraiser for a Grade One class.  You can't say  no to a Grade one fundraiser.  You could just give them the loonie and feel good about yourself, but if they are selling smores and cupcakes and cookies, you'd hate for that food to go to waste and one less smores bars means one less sugar crazy kid in your afternoon class.  Really it was for the kids that I ate the Smores Bar.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Today has been lousy for water, but I still have time to get some in me.  Haven't done Kinect in a couple days because I have been working the retail job, but tomorrow is a new day. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Big news today is that I actually have finished a full bunch of celery, I've never eaten a whole thing (is it a stalk, I don't think so, isn't a stalk one piece from a celery bunch?)  Anyway, I ate a lot of celery this week. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>

<div class="quote-container" data-huddler-embed="/t/76097/healthy-eating-week-of-january-8/25#post_2025628" data-huddler-embed-placeholder="false"><span>Quote:</span>
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by <strong>RaisingArizonainNH</strong> <a href="/t/76097/healthy-eating-week-of-january-8/25#post_2025628"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif"></a><br><br>
Tech  tee- your  recipe sounds good.   My Dh doesn't like celery much either  so I don't put much in most soups etc.    One kid doesn't like beans so I use  pink lentils which are smaller and easier to "dissappear" into the soup!<br><br>
  I haven't made the no food after 7;30 test the past two nights... yet I still am okay with it as  Wednesday was a budget hearing in town that blabbed on till almost  9:30 and I never had eaten dinner.. so I ate that and went to bed. Last night we ate early but I succumbed to a bowl of shredded wheat at  10;30 - I felt hungry. SO in all my "boredom" eating has been out the past 3 nights .. which I'll take for a start.<br><br>
 I got us a Wii finally and  it looks like it will be a fun way to keep moving at  home on non- boot camp days.</div>
</div>
<br>
The problem with pink lentils is that they really DO disappear. That is, if you cook your soup more than a few hours.<br><br>
My lentil soup recipe, you only cook it for an hour max.

<div class="quote-container" data-huddler-embed="/t/76097/healthy-eating-week-of-january-8/25#post_2025680" data-huddler-embed-placeholder="false"><span>Quote:</span>
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by <strong>jebba</strong> <a href="/t/76097/healthy-eating-week-of-january-8/25#post_2025680"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif"></a><br><br>
Yeah, this week was not so good.  I went out with frinds for lunch twice, and mr jebba brought home a pizza last night.  I think will go ahead and track for at least a week to try to get myself back on the rails.  Exercise has been great.  Calories, not so much.</div>
</div>
<br>
Maybe Mr. Jebba should knock it the hell off! <img alt="smile.gif" class="bbcode_smiley" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/smile.gif"><br><br>
In my house, we have the "benefit" of both of us being on a diet, so, crap doesn't usually enter the house unless its for the kids. Daughter # 1 is going back to school tomorrow, so, that will eliminate some of the junk food.<br><br>
Problem is, Daughter # 3 likes to bake. Fortunately, I don't like dessert that much. And, fortunately, she hasn't had any desire to bake bread. (although I make bread from time to time)<br><br>
I'm made some mean, lean, biscotti the other day. Pretty easy, and only like 70 calories for 3 pieces! Actually, I got it from the Mayo Clinic DASH recipe collection, which I'm trying to follow...<br><br>
Heck, here it is...instead of a non-stick pan, I used parchment paper (that stuff is awesome)<br><br>
Recipe: Almond and apricot biscott<br><br>
3/4 cup whole-wheat (whole-meal) flour<br>
3/4 cup all-purpose (plain) flour<br>
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar<br>
1 teaspoon baking powder<br>
2 eggs, lightly beaten<br>
1/4 cup 1 percent low-fat milk<br>
2 1/2 tablespoons canola oil<br>
2 tablespoons dark honey<br>
1/2 teaspoon almond extract<br>
2/3 cup chopped dried apricots<br>
1/4 cup coarsely chopped almonds<br><br>
Preheat the oven to 350 F.<br><br>
In a large bowl, combine the flours, brown sugar and baking powder. Whisk to blend. Add the eggs, milk, canola oil, honey and almond extract. Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough just begins to come together. Add the chopped apricots and almonds. With floured hands, mix until the dough is well blended.<br><br>
Place the dough on a long sheet of plastic wrap and shape by hand into a flattened log 12 inches long, 3 inches wide and about 1 inch high. Lift the plastic wrap to invert the dough onto a nonstick baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to another baking sheet to cool for 10 minutes. Leave the oven set at 350 F.<br><br>
Place the cooled log on a cutting board. With a serrated knife, cut crosswise on the diagonal into 24 slices 1/2 inch wide. Arrange the slices, cut-side down, on the baking sheet. Return to the oven and bake until crisp, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Store in an airtight container.<br><br>
Serving size: 3 cookies<br><br>
Calories 70<br>
Total fat 2 g<br>
Saturated fat trace<br>
Monounsaturated fat 1 g<br>
Cholesterol 16 mg<br>
Sodium 21 mg<br>
Carbohydrate 11 g<br>
Fiber 1 g<br>
Protein 2 g<br>
Potassium 79 mg<br>
Calcium 18 mg<br>