Spice Up Your Life Series- Vegetarian Entrees and Grains

Vegetarian Entrees & Grains

Spice up your life with some of these flavorful secrets to enhance the flavors of your favorite foods. This week we're focusing on vegetarian entrees and grains!

Flavorful Vegetarian Entrees

• Stir-fry fresh vegetables and sliced tofu in a nonstick skillet with soy sauce, garlic powder, and ginger. Serve over brown rice. 
• Mash tofu with part-skim Mozzarella cheese. Add garlic powder and oregano and use as a topper for pizza. 
• Cook onions and green pepper in a nonstick skillet with a small amount of oil. Add tomatoes, cooked kidney beans, garlic, and oregano. Top with part-skim Mozzarella cheese. 
• Mash cooked beans or lentils with basil and thyme and make into patties or "meatless" loaves. 
• Sprinkle cooked beans with minced onion flakes and garlic powder. Top with low fat cheese and bake until bubbly. 

Flavorful Grains

• Mix leftover cooked grains with vanilla extract and cinnamon for a delicious breakfast treat
• when cooking rice, add sage and thyme and chopped celery and onions to the water. 
• For Asian rice, add soy sauce, ginger, and garlic powder. 
• Any cooked grain in the blender with crushed pineapple and coconut extract makes an instant "Pina colada" pudding. 
• Add garlic powder, basil, and oregano to tomato sauce and serve over any cooked grain. 

Creations by Kara

Fruit Yogurt

Making your own fruit yogurt means lots more fruit and lots less sugar than most commercial varieties. Choose fruits that are packed in juice, and the possibilities are endless.

Makes 1 serving

¾   cup plain nonfat yogurt

2    teaspoons sugar

½   teaspoon vanilla extract

⅛   teaspoon any other extract, such as orange, lemon, coconut, rum, or almond

¼   cup canned sliced pears, or sliced peaches, or crushed pineapple, or blueberries

I'd rather have a life of 'Oh wells' than a life of 'what ifs'

A good lesson to begin the week is to take risks in life! "I'd rather have a life of 'Oh wells' than a life of 'What ifs.'  Happy Monday!

Spice Up Your Life Series- Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits & Vegetables

Spice up your life with some of these flavorful secrets to enhance the flavors of your favorite foods. This week we're focusing on fruits and vegetables!

Flavorful Fruits

• Cook sliced, unpeeled apples in a saucepan or microwave until tender. For 4 apples add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon each of cinnamon and nutmeg, and sweetener to taste. (Try with pears, too.)
• Combine 1/4 cup each o plain low-fat yogurt and unsweetened applesauce. Add 1/4 teaspoon apple pie spice and sweeten to taste. 
• Sprinkle grapefruit halves with cinnamon and a small amount of brown sugar. Broil until bubbly.
• Saute fresh sliced peaches, apples, or pineapple (or a combination of the three) in a nonstick skillet with cinnamon, nutmeg, and a few drops of vanilla extract. 
• Broil banana halves after sprinkling with cinnamon and nutmeg. 

Flavorful Vegetables

• Try cinnamon and orange peel on cooked carrots.
• Dill weed is delicious on cooked broccoli, cauliflower, or carrots. 
• Lemon peel and pepper spark up any cooked vegetable.
• Cooked spinach is delicious with a hint of nutmeg and garlic.
• Pumpkin pie spice is delicious on cooked squash. 
• Add a small amount of imitation butter flavor to skim milk and use as a topper for a baked potato. 
• In a nonstick skillet, cook chopped tomatoes, eggplant, onions, and green pepper with garlic powder, oregano, and pepper. 
• Saute sliced zucchini in a nonstick skillet. Sprinkle with dill weed, salt, and pepper. 
• Sprinkle tomato halves with garlic powder and oregano. Then bake or broil. 
• For a Mexican treat, cook cabbage, tomatoes, onions, and green pepper with cumin and garlic. 

Cinnamon Yogurt Muffins

Mmm…a hot cup of tea and a warm, moist cinnamon-flavored muffin.  What better way to enrich a friendship?

Makes 12 muffins

Topping:

2      teaspoons sugar

¼     teaspoon ground cinnamon

⅛     teaspoon ground nutmeg 

Muffins:

1¼  cups whole wheat flour

1     cup all-purpose flour

1½  teaspoons baking powder

1½  teaspoons baking soda

2¼  teaspoons ground cinnamon

¼    teaspoon ground nutmeg

2     egg whites

1½  cups vanilla nonfat yogurt

¼    cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

2     tablespoons vegetable oil

2     teaspoons vanilla extract

Do What You Love

When I moved to West Virginia, I wanted to make a difference in my life and the life of others.  That is why I began working with Weight Watchers.  If you "Do What You Love" then you will be happy!  Happy Monday!

Spice Up Your Life Series- Meats and Eggs

Meats & Eggs

Spice up your life with some of these flavorful secrets to enhance the flavors of your favorite foods. This week we're focusing on meats and eggs!

Flavorful Meats

• Steaks marinated in soy sauce, sherry extract, garlic powder, and ginger are wonderful on the grill. 
• Lemon juice or lime juice with garlic powder and rosemary makes a delicious marinade for beef or pork.
• Curry powder and minced onion flakes can turn an ordinary meat loaf into a gourmet treat. 
• Baked pork chops are delicious when spread with Dijon mustard and sprinkled with rosemary or dill weed. 

Flavorful Eggs

• Try scrambling eggs (or an egg substitute) in a nonstick skillet and sprinkling with oregano and garlic powder.
• A scrambled egg folded over sliced apples that have been cooked in a nonstick skillet with cinnamon makes a delicious crepe. 
• Dill weed adds a spark to egg salad made with reduced-calorie mayonnaise
• Vary French toast b adding different extracts and cooking on a nonstick skillet with a minimal amount of margarine. (try lemon, coconut, etc. )

Black Bean Pineapple Salad

As cool as the Caribbean breezes, this refreshing bean salad can be served on a bed of lettuce or piled into a pita for a delicious sandwich.

                                                                       
 Makes 4 servings

1       1-pound can black beans, rinsed and drained (This will yield approximately 10 ounces of beans.)

1       8-ounce can pineapple tidbits (packed in juice), drained

         (Reserve ¼ cup of the juice.)

½      cup finely chopped red bell pepper

½      cup thinly sliced green onion (green and white parts)

2       teaspoons vinegar

½      teaspoon ground cumin

¼      teaspoon salt      

         Pepper to taste

1       jalapeno pepper, finely chopped, seeds and inner membranes discarded (optional)

Spice Up Your Life Series- Seafood and Poultry

Seafood & Poultry

Spice up your life with some of these flavorful secrets to enhance the flavors of your favorite foods. This week we're focusing on seafood and poultry!

Flavorful Seafood

• Try dill weed and lemon peel on baked or broiled fish.
• for an Asian flavor, marinate seafood in a small amount of soy sauce and sprinkle with garlic powder and ginger
• For an Italian flavor, combine one 16-ounce can of tomatoes (drained and chopped with 2 tablespoons of onion flakes, 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder , and 1/4 teaspoon each of basil and oregano. Spoon ver fish or shrimp and bake. 
• Sprinkle fish with thyme and pepper before baking. 
• Make tuna or salmon pate by mashing 8 ounces of the fish with 1/2 teaspoon tarragon, 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder,  and 2 teaspoons reduced-calorie mayonnaise. 

Flavorful Poultry

• Combine chopped tomatoes, onion, and green peppers and add garlic and oregano. spoon over chicken and bake. 
• Saute turkey cutlets in a nonstick skillet with a small amount of oil. sprinkle with garlic powder, oregano, and poultry seasoning. 
• combine reduced calorie mayonnaise with Dijon mustard and spread on chicken. Sprinkle with rosemary and bake. 
• For the taste of sausage, to 1 pound of ground turkey add 1/8 teaspoon ground savory, and 1/4 teaspoon each of ground sage, thyme, marjoram, pepper, and salt, and 1/2 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds. make into patties and saute in a nonstick skillet. 
• Chicken marinated in soy sauce with sherry extract, garlic powder, and ginger makes a wonderful Asia entree.

Pasta Sauce with Rosemary and Lemon

You feel the wonderful tang on your lips when you enjoy this tasty sauce. Spoon it over your favorite pasta, add a side dish of steamed broccoli and yellow peppers, and your dinner is colorful as well as delicious.

                                                                  Makes 4 servings

                                                                                    (½ cup each serving)

1           1-pound can salt-free (or regular) tomatoes, chopped and undrained

1            8-ounce can salt-free (or regular) tomato sauce

1            tablespoon tomato paste

2            cloves garlic, crushed

½           teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled

½           teaspoon grated fresh lemon peel

½           teaspoon sugar

¼           teaspoon dried basil

⅛           teaspoon pepper

 Salt to taste