Honey Spiced Salmon

This turned out sooo good! I picked up a large piece of boneless salmon on sale. Hubby usually doesn't like fish but he deals with it, this he actually described as delicious!

Honey Spiced Salmon
1 lb salmon, raw
1/2 tsp ginger, ground
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1/2 orange, peeled and pureed
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp sesame oil

Combine all ingredients in a ziplock storage bag. Squeeze out the air, seal and marinate 20 minutes, turning occasionally. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375. This is a good time to prep side dishes too, I made brown rice, sweet potato oven fries and sauted greens to go with. Just cook rice by package directions, it takes the same cooking time as the salmon. The sweet potato fries just cut into sticks or wedges, toss with olive oil or spray with nonstick spray and bake in a single layer on a cookie sheet at the same time as the salmon. The greens were fresh from my container garden, I washed and chopped them then tossed into a hot cast iron skillet
with a dash of canola oil for a couple minutes after removing everything else from the oven.

To cook the salmon, remove from marinade and discard leftover marinade. Wrap salmon in foil, place in a dish and bake at 375 for about 45 minutes. Yum!

This doesn't have a strong fishy flavor, it's slightly sweet, tender and has great flavor! Leftovers get more fishy but are okay for using in things like tuna casserole recipes.

Pumpkin Soup

This is just divine. Warm, lusciously creamy, sweet and laced with spices, pumpkin soup tastes like pumpkin pie - without the huge calorie count or nearly as much work! Ready in about 15 minutes. I used cooked pureed pumpkin I made previously and froze leftover, canned pumpkin turns out more orange. Fresh pumpkins are dirt cheap in the fall and early winter, so I buy several, cook them and freeze leftovers to cook with later. High in fiber, very nutritious, cheap and yummy!

Pumpkin Soup
cooked pureed pumpkin or canned pumpkin, about 2 cups
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup sugar
1 tbsp maple syrup (optional)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
pinch cloves
milk, as needed

Combine all ingredients in a heavy pot
. Add milk as needed to get the texture you want, it takes a bit more than you'd expect. Add about 1/4 cup at a time, stir through and decide if you want more, different batches of pumpkin have different moisture content so there isn't a set amount of milk needed. Heat over low or medium low until warm through.

Serve warm. Great with a couple graham crackers, or topped with a small scoop of ice cream or frozen cool whip on top.

Some people like less or more sweetness. I prefer a bit less than this, so I add the sugar a little at a time and taste it, with this much it really tastes like pie but it does have quite a bit of sugar.

Italian Turkey Stew

I made this for dinner a few days ago. Rich, hearty turkey stew with Italian herbs, served over spaghetti squash. Yum!

Italian Turkey Stew

1 lb ground lean turkey

1 can diced or stewed tomatoes, undrained

2 cups diced zucchini

1-2 cloves garlic, diced or pressed

1 small can tomato sauce or some leftover marinara

Italian seasoning or fresh herbs such as parsley and oregano, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a pot. Simmer over medium low until cooked through. I put it on low and just slow cooked it about 2 hours until dinner time, but it should work just as good to cook it higher until done through.

Spaghetti squash is easy to prepare to serve this over. I used a small one. Just wash it, place on a plate and microwave about 10 minutes. It will pop while being cooked. The shell is really hard, better to let it pop than try to stab a vent hole in it. Once it's cooked, cool enough to handle. Cut or pull it apart, scrape out the seed section in the middle and use forks to shred up the rest like spaghetti.

You could also serve it over pasta, rice, bread, in cooked tiny pumpkins or bread bowls, or just straight as a soup by adding a bit more water.

Creamy Roast turkey & veggies stew with herbed dumplings

This sounds a lot more complicated than it is! Since it's made of precooked ingredients it only takes about 20 minutes to throw together, and looks and tastes like something that took all day! With all the carbs it's not the most diet friendly, but it's relatively low fat, low sodium , nutritious, very cheap, and it's super yummy on a cold day!

The turkey and veggies are leftovers. I thawed and cooked a turkey from the freezer a few days ago, then froze a few portions of shredded, cooked turkey to make things like this or tacos out of. At the holidays whenever the grocery stores offer a deal where I can get one for $5 or so I grab one and put it in the freezer for cheap food later. The veggies I made as a side dish.

Roasted veggies
2 zucchini, sliced (unpeeled)
1 onion, cut into chunks
4 carrots, sliced (unpeeled)
Nonstick spray or oil
herbs of your choice - I used basil, oregano and parsley

Toss veggies with a little oil or spray with nonstick spray. Spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake at whatever temp anything else is cooking until tender. Time is very forgiving but figure about 40 minutes at 325 or 30 at 400. Serve hot as a side dish, or add to other dishes such as casseroles, to stretch meat for tacos, in place of meat in dishes like lasagne, as a simple topper for brown rice with some tomato sauce, like a stir-fry or add to soups.


Creamy Roast Turkey and Veggies Stew with Herbed Dumplings
2 cups cooked veggies (I used the roasted vegges above)
1 1/2 cup shredded or cubed cooked meat (I used roasted turkey)
water, boullion or broth to cover
1/4 cup flour
fat free milk, up to 1 cup
pepper and herbs to taste
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, pressed, diced or cut up
1 recipe herbed dumplings, below

Combine turkey and veggies in a medium soup pot. Add as much water, boullion or broth as you'd like. Season with garlic, worcestershire sauce, pepper and a few shakes of herbs like italian seasoning, parsley, or any fresh herbs you have leftover, to taste.

Combine flour and milk in small bowl, adding milk slowly and stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Can also combine in a small jar and shake to combine. Add to soup, stirring well. Heat over medium until bubbling in a slow boil. Soup will thicken and get a nice creamy texture. You can serve it at this stage if you want, or you can skip the flour & milk to make a thinner (and lower carb) soup. I like it creamy and with dumplings on dreary, cold rainy days, it's hearty like a chowder without the huge fat content.


Herbed Dumplings
2/3 cup flour
1 tbsp dried herbs
dash pepper
dash salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup milk
2 tbsp canola oil

Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl. Combine milk and oil in a small cup, pour all at once into dry ingredients and stir just until combined. If it's a little dry and not holding together, add a dash more milk. Drop by heaping spoonfuls into simmering soup. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 10-12 minutes. Makes about 4 dumplings. Yum!

Chili Lime Shrimp

Yum! Dinner tonight turned out really good. Napa cabbage salad with asian dressing, grilled veggies and chili lime shrimp, brown rice with plain yogurt, and fresh cut pear and papaya.

Cabbage Salad

1 small head napa cabbage, coarsely diced

2 small tomatoes, sliced

1 carrot, sliced

handful cilantro, shredded

Asian salad spritzer or dressing of choice
This is one of my most common side dishes. Cut up fresh fruit, whatever is on sale. Wednesday is super cheap produce sale day and the ethnic market I go to, so I'm all stocked up right now! Today papaya and pears were some of the great deals. This is just 2 pears and about 1/8 of a papaya.

The grilled veggies are really easy too, and make a great versatile side dish. I slice up what I have, spray with Pam and put them on the George Forman grill. Leftovers make great scrambled eggs, omelets, salad toppers or pita sandwiches.

This is 2 zucchini, 2 green and 2 red bell peppers, and 1 medium/small onion.

Chili Lime Shrimp

1 lb shrimp

1 lime, zest and juice

1/4 tsp chili powder

pepper to taste

1 tbsp canola or olive oil

Combine lime juice, about 2/3 of the zest, chili powder, pepper and oil. Clean shrimp well and coat them in marinade. Cook the rest of dinner while they marinade, doesn't take long.

To cook, just place on George Forman grill until pink through and curled up. I bought precooked shrimp this time since it was on sale, and just put on the grill long enough to warm them, works a lot better with raw shrimp.

Brown Rice with Lime Yogurt

per serving:

1/2 cup cooked brown rice

1 tbsp plain fat free yogurt

couple pinches lime zest

Top rice with yogurt, sprinkle with lime zest.

Lemon basil pasta with fresh sauce

Note: The color on the picture didn't turn out quite right and I don't have my super photo editing software anymore. It's not really pink and orange, the pasta is lighter brown like whole wheat, and the sauce is made of tomatoes - not pumpkin! :D

Mmmmmm! Perfect al dente pasta with the depth of whole wheat, savory herby basil and a little touch of lemony zing, with light, fresh tomato sauce over the top. I served it with some simple baked chicken breast and green beans from the freezer. The pasta is a little time consuming to make, but oh so worth it!

I have a little old Imperia manual pasta machine, very similar to the V177 AL DENTE Pasta Machine which I use to make pasta much better than packaged whole wheat noodles!

Fresh Lemon Basil Pasta

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup unbleached flour (plus more for dusting as needed)

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp lemon zest

2 tbsp dried basil (may use 3 tbsp fresh instead)

pinch salt

3 eggs

1 tbsp olive oil

water as needed (about 1/8 cup)

Combine flours in a large bowl, or in the bowl of a food processor or strong mixer (I use my KitchenAid usually, but it's broken at the moment so I used my food processor for this batch).

In a small bowl, beat together eggs, lemon juice, zest, basil, salt and oil. Make a well in the center of flour, add egg mixture. Beat in flour from edges. As it gets thicker you'll probably have to use your hands unless you're using a KitchenAid mixer.

Knead until you have a smooth, solid dough. If it's too sticky, add more flour. If it's crumbly, add water. I needed about 1/8 cup water for this batch.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let it rest 20 minutes. This is a good time to make the sauce! Also a good time to prep side dishes and put your big pot of water on to boil.

When time is up, begin to run the dough through the pasta machine. Read the manual that came with your machine. I divide the dough into handful size balls so it's easier to work with. Run it through on the widest setting, fold it in half and dust with flour, repeat until smooth, then decrease the setting and repeat until you have a solid, thin sheet from the thinnest setting.

I have a pasta rack, but you can use towels dusted with flour to lay the sheets of pasta on as you work. Working as quickly as you can, roll out each ball one by one until they're all ready and drying. Starting with the first one you made, run it through the cutting side of the pasta machine. Mine has a narrow one (I call it spaghetti but it's not) and a thicker side (I think that's fettuccini?) I used the thicker side this time. Place cut pasta on flour dusted towels or a pasta rack until all are ready to go.

When all your pasta is cut and the water is at a rolling boil, salt the water then add all the pasta. Stir to make sure it doesn't all stick together or to the bottom of the pot. Put the lid on to help it quickly return to a boil, then remove the lid. The pasta will float when it's done, it really doesn't take long at all! Drain and return to hot pot until you serve. Don't make it wait too long!

This makes a lot of pasta! If you're going to go through the trouble, may as well make enough for yummy leftovers or a fancy dinner for about 8!

Fresh Tomato Sauce

4 large tomatoes, diced

2 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves fresh garlic, minced

oregano, parsley and basil, to taste

dash salt, to taste

Heat oil in a medium pot over medium. When hot, add onions and saute until they start to turn transparent. Add remaining ingredients. Reduce heat and simmer until tender and thickened as much as you'd like.

The chicken I made is really easy too! I just took boneless skinless chicken breast halves (frozen Kirkland ones), put them in a foil lined pan and baked about 45 minutes by package directions at 375. I sprinkled them with salt, pepper and paprika before baking, then after removing from the oven I let them sit in the pan about 15 minutes. Sliced across the grain, each chicken breast half makes 2 servings.

Fresh fruit

Okay, we all know we should be eating more fresh fruit and veggies.

Here's a great way to get more servings and enjoy them as fruit, without having to try to work them into things and hide them!

I've found just cutting the fruit up into nice bite size pieces or finger food pieces makes it disappear. I often cut up whatever is ripe and fill a plate, then use that as a side dish. In this case it's 2 mangos, 4 kiwis and an orange we had with breakfast today. Almost any meal goes well with a fresh fruit plate! I often try to make the plate look pretty arranging it like a flower, but if I'm in a hurry I just pile it all on there - it's still just as easy to eat and just as delicious!

Try it - slice up an apple or whatever you have around, and see if you actually stop procrastinating and eat it!

My Meal Plan

The most common question I get about my weightloss is "what do you eat?"

So here it is, plain & simple :) I just choose one option from each category, or something similar. I eat about 6 times daily, 3 meals and 3 snacks.

Breakfast:
1. fat free cottage cheese with a spoonful low sugar or sugar free preserves, or a handful fruit
2. scrambled egg with 1 slice cheese on toasted double fiber english muffin
3. Light & Fit yogurt with 1 piece fruit (an apple or something)
4. a 2- egg omelet with cheese and sauted veggies

Snack:
1. a piece of fresh fruit
2. a handful of almonds
3. Any fresh veggies
4. celery with natural peanut butter
5. a slice of cheese and Ak Mak or All Bran crackers
6. a reduced fat string cheese
7. a light yogurt
8. a sliced apple with natural peanut butter or a slice of cheese
9. fresh cut fruit with yogurt to dip it in
10. fresh cut veggies with yogurt or hummus to dip
11. sunflower seeds
12. pumpkin seeds

Lunch:
1. a large salad of romaine or leaf lettuce (not iceburg! it's nutritionally worthless), with about 1/4 cup protein like a handful nuts, leftover cooked chicken or other meat, a slice of cheese or a string cheese. Any veggie toppers I feel like, maybe some oranges, and a little light dressing or salad spritzer, or salsa for a taco salad
2. veggie soup, just broth with any combo of veggies and maybe a can of tomatoes. Add cheese & crackers for some protein
3. Dinner leftovers
4. a small whole wheat pita stuffed with grilled chicken and veggies, with light mayo or fat free sour cream

another snack

Dinner:
I cook dinner, and try to make planned leftovers so I have some side dishes ready to go that I can just reheat. Some common menus I make (next time I make them I'll share pics & recipes, or sooner by request):
1. fish tacos with beans and sauted greens or zucchini
2. turkey tacos (same sides)
3. grilled or broiled chicken sandwich, fresh fruit and cooked veggies
4. burger on whole wheat english muffin, baked fries or sweet potato fries, or baked sweet potato and veggies
5. simple chili or soup and many variations, with biscuits or toast and fresh fruit
6. baked chicken tenders, veggies and fresh fruit
7. stir-fry over brown rice with oranges
8. stuffed cabbage rolls, broccoli and fruit
9. sauted turkey smoked sausage & peppers, brown rice, fruit
10. grilled sausage or chicken, veggies and fruit
11. low carb "hot dogs" of smoked sausage on romaine "buns" with baked fries and fruit
12. baked packets of cod, mushrooms & asian seasonings on brown rice, broccoli and fruit

Dessert/after dinner snack:
any of the day snacks, or
1. sugar free pudding made with fat free milk, sometimes with peanut butter or fat free cool whip
2. sugar free jello with cool whip free
3. apple, cored and filled with raisins then baked until tender
4. frozen green grapes

I try to buy lots of produce, fresh fruit and veggies, whatever is on sale. We end up eating a lot of broccoli, cabbage, zucchini or mexican squash, oranges, apples, berries, peaches, nectarines, melon, grapes, onions, greens, lettuce - tons of others, but those I always seem to have around!

I don't usually measure portions very accurately, but I do keep an eye on meat and fat and try to limit them. I try to get healthy fat sources like avocado, almonds and canola oil. Other than that, I just try to eat lots of fresh fruit & veggies, enough lean meat, and a few servings of whole grain. That seems to be the basis of every diet on the market, no gimmicks just common knowledge that really works!

Of course diet alone isn't enough and you'd need to do some kind of exercise, and check with your doctor and all that we all know already! I'm breastfeeding too so that speeds up the weightloss a bit, it lets me have a bit more calories daily than someone who isn't. I take a multivitamin when I remember too, just to cover any bases I missed :)

Hearty Pumpkin Turkey Chili

This one is time consuming, but cheap, lean and worth the wait!
I made yummy chili tonight, with some quick biscuits, and since I was way under my calories for the day and needed to use up some carrots I made carrot cake with yogurt sauce instead of frosting. Yum.
Okay, it's not beautiful, but color means nutrition! It's loaded with good for you stuff, and good tasting too!

Hearty Pumpkin Turkey Chili

1 1-lb bag dried small red beans (or any beans)

1 lb lean ground turkey (optional)

2.5 cups mashed cooked pumpkin (1 small, or canned, or use acorn or other squash, or sweet potato)

2.5 cups diced zucchini

1 small-medium onion, diced

2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained

3 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp cinnamon

At least 7 hours before dinner time (or the night before), rinse and sort beans. Cover in cold water to soak.

After soaking, cook beans by package directions then drain.

At least 3 hours before dinner, slice pumpkin in half, scoop out seeds and place cut side down on a pan. Roast at 350 until tender, depending how thick it is that's usually about 40-60 minutes.

Toss the zucchini and onion on a baking sheet and roast them at the same time for about half as long, to get that wonderful sweet roast flavor.

At least an hour before dinner, scoop pumpkin out of skin and mash. Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Add a little extra water if needed. Cover and simmer over low at least an hour or until turkey is done. Best to turn off the heat at least 30 mins before eating, to let it cool. The thick, rich texture and tomatoes really hold the heat so it doesn't cool to edible temperature in the time it takes to dish it up and get to the table!

Excellent with whole wheat or pumpkin biscuits. Makes great leftovers!

Weightloss Tip of the Day

Ever stopped and actually read the ingredients in that rice side dish you always buy? What exactly IS all that stuff that's 2 lines long and you'd need some kind of degree to decipher? No clue?

If you don't know what it is, you probably shouldn't be eating it. Try buying a big bag of plain brown rice. It's by the bags of plain dried beans, or some stores offer it in bulk bins. Easy to cook, even though it takes a while longer than instant or white rice. You can divide it into meal size portions and freeze it, I fill sandwich size storage containers and freeze those. Stacks well so it doesn't take up too much space in the freezer, thin means it thaws quickly, and it holds about the right amount for 1 small family dinner.

To make a great economical and healthy side dish, just toss it with a little oil and vinegar, parmesan and fresh herbs, or chopped tomato and cilantro. About 1000 times tastier than the Mystery Box, better for you and better for your wallet!

Cereal Snack Bars

I've been experimenting with recipes to make a substitute for store bought granola bars to take in lunches. Store bought ones are expensive, loaded in sugar and corn syrup, almost all of them have soy products and don't have much nutritional value.

I'm trying bars based on cereal, since I stocked up when it was cheap and now we need to use it up. The last batch I tried simple honey cheerio bars, which were delicious! Hubby requested more seeds and texture, so here's the improved version.





















Honey Sesame Cheerio Bars
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup Skippy natural peanut butter, crunchy
3 cups Cheerios
2 cups Kix
1 cup oatmeal (dry)
1/4 cup flax seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup almonds
Nonstick spray

Combine sugar and honey in a small, heavy saucepan. Heat over medium until it's melted and smooth, stirring often with a heat proof spatula. Here's what you want it to look like when it's melted




Meanwhile, combine Cheerios, Kix, oatmeal, flax seeds, sesame seeds, cinnamon and almonds in a large bowl. Spray a 9x13 pan with nonstick spray, or grease with olive or canola oil.

When honey and sugar are melted, add peanut butter and stir until it melts too. Pour over the cereal mix. Stir until thoroughly combined. It helps to use a transparent bowl so you can look at the bottom and see if there's still ingredients at the bottom that haven't been stuck to the rest. Empty the bowl into the 9x13 pan and spread. Press down firmly with the spatula to make a mostly even layer.

Cool and slice into bars or squares. Refridgeration not necessary, but you can if you want - it'll make them more firm and chewy, almost tough.

I'll get some pictures up as soon as I get it working!

On the Menu tonight

Tonight's dinner is going to be spaghetti with turkey meatballs and brussel sprouts. Leftovers actually, but still delicious, healthy and budget friendly! I'll put my approximate cost in parentheses to help calculate the total cost.

Broiled Turkey Meatballs
1 lb ground lean turkey ($2)
1 egg, beaten ($0.08)
2/3 cup fresh breadcrumbs (about 1 1/2 slices, $0.02)
1 tsp pepper (under $0.01)
1/2 tsp salt (under $0.01)
1/4 tsp garlic powder (under $0.01)
1 tsp italian seasoning (under $0.01)
1 tbsp dried parsley (under $0.01)
2 tsp worcestershire sauce ($0.02)
2 tbsp parmesan cheese ($0.02)
1/4 small onion, very finely minced ($0.03)

Total cost per recipe - about $2.20, makes 5 servings. $0.44 per serving of 4 meatballs.

To make meatballs, combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth and well combined. Shape into 1 tbsp balls, a cookie scoop is very handy for this! Place on a cookie sheet sprayed with nonstick spray and broil about 20 minutes until cooked through.



I used Ronzoni Smart Taste Spaghetti, $0.75 with sale and coupon for 7 2-oz servings, $0.11 per serving. A jar of organic marinara on sale for $2, 6 servings of 1/2 cup at $0.33 each. And a bag of frozen brussel sprouts, 6 servings for $1.50 is $.025 each.

That's a total of $1.13 per serving for a healthy, homemade and very satisfying dinner! Enjoy!

Eating healthy on a budget

I often hear the comment that people can't eat healthy because it's just too expensive. I'm here to tell you it can be done! We feed a family of 4 for less than I spent on groceries for 2 eating unhealthy foods. Here's a dozen great ideas anyone can try!

1. Check the price per serving, not just the price per pound. A pound of boneless, skinless chicken makes more servings than a pound with parts you won't eat. Remember you're paying the price per pound for the bones, skin and trimmings too! Minimize waste and get the most for your money by using bones and scraps to make stock, just cover in water and simmer.

2. Buy flexible staple items that keep in bulk. Dry beans, rice, barley, lentils and many similar items will keep indefinitely in the pantry. Whole wheat flour and brown rice can be refridgerated or frozen.

3. Buy lean, inexpensive cuts of meat when it's on sale and freeze several extras. Good bets are ground lean turkey under $3/lb, split chicken breasts under $1/lb, boneless skinless chicken breasts under $1.50/lb, and Hillshire Farm turkey smoked sausage loop under $3.50. All can be used for a variety of meals, freeze well, are easy to prepare and great for leftovers.

4. Shop at farmer's markets, ethnic grocery stores, mom & pop shops, swap meets or wherever you can find inexpensive produce. I've found produce at local ethnic grocery stores is usually around half the price of the main grocery's sale prices. Sometimes less!

5. Grow your own! If you have a pot of soil and a sunny spot, you can grow mustard greens and radishes quickly and easily year round, indoors, or outdoors when it's warm. You can grow lots of veggies and small fruits in pots, in a dedicated garden area, or work them into your landscaping. A $2 packet of seed can easily produce a large amount of food. Especially with easy to grow herbs like parsley, chives and cilantro the savings over buying fresh at the grocery store are substantial.

6. Know your prices! If you can't remember it all, make yourself a cheat sheet in a notebook you take to the store with you. Write down items you commonly buy, followed by what it costs and at which store. You'll soon recognize what's a good price and when to wait.

7. Use coupons! But be reasonable. A lot of coupons are for items that are insanely overpriced to start with, and even after combining a coupon and sale the generic is still cheaper. Use online resources like couponmom.com, coupons.com, smart source, red plum and manufacturer websites to find coupons and deals. Coupon Mom will teach you how to combine sales and coupons to get great deals! Once you know how that works it's easy to apply to other stores. Trim corners on things that are easy to get great deals on like toothpaste for under $1 at CVS, and then use the savings to get more groceries.

8. Know your seasons. Fall and back to school time is great to get cereal, granola bars and packaged snacks. Everyone has them on sale then, and every newspaper insert is loaded with coupons. Stock up! Winter is canned goods, turkey, ham and frozen meats. Spring is "diet" foods, but watch to make sure they're not heavily advertising an artificially inflated price on things like frozen dinners. Late spring and summer are produce, and lots of it! A good time to learn to can, freeze, dehydrate and cook with as much fresh produce as you can handle. Early fall is winter squash, apple and cabbage.

9. Make inexpensive side dishes. A pot of beans with spices and a bit of onion makes a good side dish for Mexican meals. Brown rice, bulgur, barley and almost any other grain can be cooked plainly and seasoned to taste with herbs, spices or lemon. Sauted zucchini is great for Mexican, Italian or Chinese. Potatoes cut into wedges, sprinkled with spices and baked like fries are dirt cheap. A sliced fresh apple or pear makes a nice, simple and refreshing side. Cauliflower "mashed potatoes", braised cabbage and raw veggies are all very easy. Compare the cost of any of those to one of those packaged instant side-in-a-box mixes and you save a lot of cash - and prevent eating a ton of junk!

10. WATER! Don't buy soda. Just don't. No diet, no generic, no flavored water. There's nothing in there that's good for you, and several things we know for a fact are bad for you. It's bad for your health, bad for your weight, bad for the environment and bad for your wallet! If you really want some for special occasions that's fine, but it shouldn't be part of every day.

11. Ditch the junk food. Replace name brand snacks with homemade alternatives. Instead of tortilla chips, cut your own whole wheat tortillas into chips, spray with nonstick spray and bake until crisp. Replace candy with frozen grapes, fruit, or at least smaller portions. Instead of salty snacks try cauliflower poppers, veggie sticks or Ak Mak crackers.

12. Check nutrition labels. If you don't understand half the ingredients, you probably don't need it. When considering fresh items, if they're the same price choose the healthier option. When buying lettuce choose leaf or romaine, iceburg has almost no nutritional value. When buying fruit choose more colorful varities. Always choose fresher items when you can, fresh is the best, then frozen, and last canned since canning destroys many nutrients and adds salt.

Dinner tonight

So, we're back on a healthy diet.
Tonight's dinner is a good one! I'm making a simple baked Asian Style Cod, with brown rice and broccoli. Super easy!

The recipe:
1 lb cod fillets (about 4)
1 sliced green onion
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 1-inch segment ginger, diced
4 garlic cloves, diced
4 tsp sesame oil
4 tsp soy sauce

Make squares of foil. In the middle of each square place a piece of fish. Top with a couple bits of green onion, 1/4 cup mushrooms, a garlic clove, a bit of ginger and a teaspoon each of sesame oil and soy sauce. Fold the foil shut to make a little packet. Place the packets in a baking dish and bake them at 350 or 400 about 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily. Open foil, pour over cooked brown rice, noodles or a salad and enjoy!