If you don’t already know, me and my 16yr old son are starting P90x.  This also means we have to eat healthier and the easiest, best way to eat healthy during the Summer, is to take advantage of the grill (and the man cooking..haha).  It’s no secret that Olive Oil is a healthy fat so we do try to use it often on everything from grilled vegetables to salad dressings.  Of course, we buy ours at Walmart and we use the Great Value brand mostly because of price but also use Mazola brand.  Do you have a favorite that you like?

Substituting olive oil, a monounsaturated fat, for saturated fats or polyunsaturated fats can:

• Reduce blood pressure
• Inhibit the growth of some cancers
• Benefit people at risk for or with diabetes
• Lessen the severity of asthma and arthritis
• Actually help your body maintain a lower weight

Just like anything else, cooking with heat can reduce the amount of nutrients but our mentality is – ‘it’s better than butter’.  We’ve, many times, slathered butter all over our vegetables before grilling and I know that this has to be a better option. We have used the Olive Oil spray and just sprayed them! And overcooking is not recommended….as you can see, we overcooked ours just a bit but that tends to happen when you’re watering plants, talking on the phone, and jumping on the trampoline in between!

I’d love to know how you use Olive Oil!  I’ve heard you can make lip balm using it and I know there’s an Olive Oil soap that is amazing.  I’d love to try other non-food ways to use the oil. Share if you know some!

You simple pour just a little bit of Olive Oil all over the Asparagus and sprinkle with salt & pepper.  You might even toss some Parmesan cheese too after they are grilled. YUM!

Ummm, yeah, stay focused when cooking people!! Clearly overcooked but still tasted great!

Disclosure: I am an official Walmart Mom. Follow me and my fellow Walmart Moms as we share our experiences and ideas! Walmart has provided me with compensation and gift card in return for my time & efforts to create this post. My participation in this program is voluntary and my opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.

When I told my personal trainer Sarah that I rank #3 on the first page of Google for ‘homemade pancakes‘, she was slightly hesitant to give me a healthy pancake version.  She did give it to me though and I’m very excited about it. I never even thought these ingredients would make a pancake, much less a good tasting one!  I will always favor my pancake version, however, I do think these will be a nice change in our eating lifestyle. After all, I am trying to eat healthier!

Sarah’s…

Most of the time, I despise salads. I don’t really like a lot of toppings that most people do so they don’t interest me too much but thanks to my personal trainer (from my local Anytime Fitness), I’m learning to tweak things a bit to allow my palette to enjoy them more.

First, she recommend I keep 100% chicken in water as a substitute for when everyone else is eating foods that I shouldn’t. So today, while my boys were eating pizza, I decided to make me a salad. It turned out so good that my husband asked for one as well.

I started out using Marketside’s Premium Romaine Salad Mix. I cut up a roma tomato and placed on the side. I don’t like when it mixes into my greens. I’m weird that way. I opened a can of Valley Fresh 100% Natural White Chicken in Water (97% fat free). I put half the can on my salad, the other half on my husband’s. I sprinkled with a small amount of Great Value Cheese and topped with Kraft’s Dressing made with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Basil Parmesan Vinaigrette.

The Kraft dressing was AMAZING!  It was PACKED full of flavor and since I cannot go without dressing, I chose one that had under 100 calories per serving. This one had 70.  The chicken tasted SO good and is much better than some other versions I’ve had that included rib meat or something.  I added a little pepper to it all and man, this was the tastiest salad I’ve had in a long time!  It may look plain to y’all but I like simple.

What do you like to eat on your salad?

For our family the perfect muffin has to be healthy and also nut free (my daughter’s daycare is nut free), low carb for me and yet still delicious and moist for my husband.   I’m not an expert baker so I wanted something that would be quick and easy to make and relatively foolproof.   After combining a couple of recipes and tweaking a little we have found the one that works for us.

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup coconut oil
• 4 tablespoons of butter
• 6 eggs (at room temperature)
• ½ teaspoon coconut essence
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup Xylitol
• 1 teaspoon Stevia (Nu Naturals)
• ¾ cup heavy cream
• 1 ½ cups shredded coconut (we use organic unsweetened low fat)
• 1 cup coconut flour (best sifted – we use Bob’s Red Mill)
• ½ cup cocoa (best sifted – we use Green & Blacks Organic Fair Trade Cocoa)
• ¾ cup chocolate chips (we use Sunspire Organic 65% Cocoa Bittersweet Chocolate Chips)

Preheat oven 375 degrees – To help keep the muffins moist we add moisture to the oven in the form of steam by placing a pyrex dish filled with water on the bottom of the over while preheating.

Directions:

1. Soften the butter and if your coconut oil is solid soften that too
2. In a large mixing bowl mix coconut oil, eggs, coconut essence, pinch of salt and xylitol
3. Separately mix the shredded coconut, coconut flour, cocoa and chocolate chips (keep some of the chocolate chips to sprinkle on the top of each muffin
4. Add half the dry mix into the wet mixture, add the heavy cream, add the remainder of the dry mix
5. Grease the muffin trays/cups.  We use spray coconut oil.
6. Spoon into the silicon muffin trays or muffin cups (we make 12 large muffins and 12 mini muffins)
7. Bake for 14-16 minutes.  For us the mini muffins are ready at 14 minutes so we remove these and leave the large muffins in for a few more minutes – since your oven may bake a little differently you can check them with a toothpick and the leave them in a little longer if necessary.

Candice is a co-founder of Bidmycleaning.com, an online marketplace for cleaning services.  Bidmycleaning was founded by her husband, Gavin and two partners.  Candice and Gavin live in San Diego and have an ‘almost-four-year old’ daughter, also known as the baking assistant.  Candice writes the Bidmycleaning Banter Blog where she talks about house cleaning, green cleaning and being eco-friendly.

EDITED: You can get a FREE pair of diabetic socks!  My grandmother used these ALL the time and they really helped.

Knowing what to eat when you have diabetes can be confusing but there are some basic principles that have stood the test of time. Here are a few tips on making healthful food choices for you and your family.

• * Eat lots of vegetables and fruits.  Eat non-starchy vegetables like spinach, carrots, broccoli or green beans with meals.
• * Choose whole grain foods over processed grain products.
• * Include dried beans (like kidney or pinto beans) and lentils into your meals.
• * Include fish in your meals at least a couple of times a week.
• * Choose lean meats like cuts of beef and pork that end in “loin” such as pork loin and sirloin. Remove the skin from chicken and turkey.
• * Choose non-fat dairy like skim milk, non-fat yogurt and non-fat cheese.
• * Choose water and calorie-free “diet” drinks instead of regular soda, fruit punch, sweet tea and other sugar-sweetened drinks.
• * Choose liquid oils for cooking instead of solid fats that can be high in saturated and trans fats. Remember that fats are high in calories. If you’re trying to lose weight, watch your portion sizes of added fats.
• * Cut back on high calorie snack foods and desserts like chips, cookies, cakes, and full-fat ice cream.
• * Eating too much of even healthful foods can lead to weight gain. Watch your portion sizes.

Diabetes Meal Plans

Whether you need to lose weight, gain weight, or stay where you are, your meal plan can help. A healthy diet is a way of eating that that reduces risk for complications such as heart disease and stroke.  If you are in need of a little help, you can get a FREE Diabetes Meal Planner to help you out a bit.

I’m not a huge tomato fan but I do think they are important to have your diet and below are just a few of the reasons why you should incorporate them into your daily eating.

Reduction in Heart Disease Risk
Tomatoes are a very good source of potassium and a good source of niacin, vitamin B6, and folate. Niacin has been used for years as a safe way to lower high cholesterol levels. Diets rich in potassium have been shown to lower high blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease.

Diets Rich in Tomato Products Significantly Improve Cholesterol

A high dietary intake of tomato products significantly reduced total and LDL cholesterol levels. While drinking 13.5 ounces of plain tomato juice every day may seem a bit challenging, enjoying a cup of tomato juice with lunch, a cup of hot tomato juice into which an ounce of tomato ketchup has been stirred along with some freshly ground pepper as an afternoon “soup” break, and/or a Virgin Mary (the alcohol-free counterpart to the Blood Mary) before dinner would provide some taste diversity.

More Help against Colon Cancer, Diabetes, and Migraines

So how else can tomatoes help? The folate in tomatoes can also help to reduce the risk of colon cancer. In addition, tomatoes are a good source of riboflavin, which has been shown to be helpful for reducing the frequency of migraine attacks in those who suffer from them. A good intake of chromium, a mineral of which tomatoes are a good source, has been shown to help diabetic patients keep their blood sugar levels under control.

More stuff to know…….

• 1. A large consumption of tomato can help improve skin texture and color.
• 2. Tomato is a good blood purifier.
• 3. Tomato helps in cases of congestion of the liver (protects the liver from cirrhosis) as well as for dissolving gallstones.
• 4. Tomato is a natural antiseptic therefore it can help protect against infection Nicotinic acid in tomatoes can help to reduce blood cholesterol, thus helps prevent heart diseases.
• 5. Vitamin K in tomatoes helps to prevent hemorrhages.
• 6. Tomato contain lycopene (the red pigment in tomato), this pigment is a powerful antioxidant that can also fight cancer cells.

A recipe to try.

One of our favorites recipes where tomatoes are one of the main ingredients, is my Tomato Cucumber Salad.  It’s very easy and very good and great for summer get-togethers.

What a week huh!  I shared three beef recipes with you; Beef Spring Rolls with Carrots and Cilantro, Steaks with Mushrooms, Blue Cheese & Frizzled Shallots, and Asian Beef & Broccoli With Noodles.  All three were fantastic and even though I hit a couple of bumps with ingredients (cause of my very small town), it all turned out good and they really were delicious.  Each one came from the Beef, it’s what’s for dinner website where you can browse, rate, review and educate yourself on healthy cuts of beef.

One of the things I learned this week, was my appreciation for fresh produce.  I live far from town so it’s hard for me to always fresh ingredients on hand but I learned that it’s worth the drive to get them.  It really made a difference and was healthy and my goal for 2009 is live better.

There’s also a wonderful cookbook out called, “The Healthy Beef Cookbook“.  You’ll find everything from healthy stir frys, steaks, to salads but one of my favorite parts is in the back of the book.  It’s a section that educates you on the different cuts of beef and the nutrition values.

Some recipes included are:

• # Spicy Five-Pepper T-Bone Steaks
• # Southwest Burgers with Corn Relish
• # Thai Beef Noodle Salad
• # Tenderloin Sandwich with Balsamic Caramelized Onions
• # Barbecue Beef Stir-Fry with Couscous
• # Chipotle Pot Roast with Cheddar Mashed Potatoes
• # Beef, Arugula, and Spinach Lasagna
• # Cowboy Beef and Black Bean Chili
• # Tomato-Basil Meatball Soup
• # Triple-Ginger Beef Dumplings
• # Garlic and Wine
• # Tenderloin with Cremini Mushroom Risotto

All brought to you by the American Dietetic Association and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

To encourage you to try some lean beef recipes, I’m giving away a $100 gift card (to hopefully buy some groceries to try one of these recipes) and 3 of these healthy beef cookbooks.  That means there will be 4 winners!

TO ENTER:

Browse around the Beef, it’s what’s for dinner website.  Come back here to this post and tell me something you learned, a recipe you think you’ll try or a feature you liked from the site.

Additional ways to enter….leave each one you do in a separate comment please.

• Subscribe to my blog via reader or email.
• Subscribe to my newsletter.
• Follow me at twitter and tweet this giveaway.
• Blog about it with a link back to this giveaway or this blog.

Giveaway ends on April 13th (10pmCST), which is a little longer than a week due to the Easter holiday.  For details on how my giveaways work, read the official rules.

Asian stir fry, never been a fan until now!!!  I have to say that this was my favorite recipe out of all the beef ones I did this week.  I didn’t know what to expect using the ramen noodles but was very happy with this dish!  And it wasn’t just me either, the entire family  loved it.  I’m telling you, I have hard time getting my oldest to eat vegetables  but he really enjoyed this and said it was his second favorite.  My toddler gobbled it up like there was no tomorrow and we all had fun sitting and chatting at the table while eating this dish.  Great family time.

This was so easy to make and really is a 30 minute meal.  Yes, I did have one problem this recipe. I know, I know….my small town doesn’t make it easy on me to say the least but I had a hard time finding a lean cut of meat for this recipe.  So pretend it is one and we’re all good.

I had a lot of fun making these beef recipes this week.  I felt like stepped outside my comfort zone and was open to the new dishes.  I’m glad I did because they were all great! Beef, it really is what’s for dinner ’round here!

P.S. Keep your eyes open for a little surprise tomorrow.

INGREDIENTS

• 1-1/4 pounds beef top round or top sirloin steak, cut 1 inch thick
• 2 packages (3 ounces each) Oriental-flavored instant ramen noodles, broken up
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 pound broccoli florets
• 2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon grated orange rind (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Cut beef steak lengthwise in half, then crosswise into 1/8-inch thick strips. Combine seasoning from ramen noodles with cornstarch mixture in large bowl. Add beef; toss.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Stir-fry broccoli and carrots 1 minute. Add noodles and 1-1/2 cups water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 3 to 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender and most of liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally. Remove; keep warm.

Heat remaining oil in same skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Drain beef, discarding marinade. Stir-fry 1/2 of beef 1 to 2 minutes or until outside surface of beef is no longer pink. (Do not overcook.) Remove. Repeat with remaining beef. Serve over noodles. Sprinkle with orange rind.

Notes:

• Total recipe time: 30 minutes
• Makes 4 servings
• This recipe is an excellent source of protein, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, iron, selenium and zinc; and a good source of fiber.

As a cowboy’s wife, we tend to eat a lot of beef (it’s furnished with our job) so trying to create healthier meals out of beef is important to me.  This week, I’ll be bringing you three healthier beef recipes thanks to ‘Beef, It’s What’s for Dinner‘.

Today’s recipe was fun to make and very quick.  It was also quite a shock to see my oldest son praise it.  Why?  Simply because he rarely eats anything healthy, least of all vegetables.  He loved it!  I was so happy, not because he liked the recipe but because he ate and enjoyed the healthy things about it. My middle son didn’t care for the cilantro but loved the rest of it and my husband thought it was great!  In other words, it got two thumbs here in the Falcon household.

The recipe actually calls for rice paper wrappers as you’ll see below but I could not find them anywhere in my town so I used the alternative, which was lettuce leaves.  This was actually recommended on the recipe itself, along with other great info like nutritional value, reviews, and cook notes.

Maybe I’m partial, but I like my final photo better…heehee.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound beef top sirloin or top round steak, cut 3/4 to 1 inch thick or flank steak
• 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons stir-fry sauce and marinade, divided
• 8 rice paper wrappers (8 to 9 inch diameter)
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro
• Additional prepared stir-fry sauce and marinade (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Cut beef steak lengthwise in half, then crosswise into 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick strips. Combine 1/4 cup stir-fry sauce and beef in medium bowl. Cover and marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes to 2 hours.

Heat large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add 1/2 of beef; stir-fry 1 to 3 minutes or until outside surface of beef is no longer pink. (Do not overcook.) Remove from skillet. Repeat with remaining beef.

Fill large bowl with warm water. Dip 1 rice paper wrapper into water for a few seconds or just until moistened. Rice paper will still be firm but will continue to soften during assembly. Place on work surface.

Spoon 1/4 cup beef, 2 tablespoons carrots and 2 tablespoons cilantro evenly in a row across center of wrapper, leaving 1-inch border on right and left sides; drizzle with about 1 teaspoon reserved stir-fry sauce. Fold right and left sides of wrapper over filling. Fold bottom edge up over filling and roll up tightly. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling ingredients. Cut each spring roll diagonally in half. Serve with additional stir-fry sauce, if desired.

Notes:

• Marinade time: 30 minutes to 2 hours
• Total recipe time: 25 to 30 minutes
• Makes 4 servings
• This recipe is an excellent source of protein, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, selenium and zinc, and a good source of iron.

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