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Martha G.

Southwest Soup

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Southwest Soup
This makes about 8 servings

1 med onion finely chopped
3 garlic cloves finely chopped
1/2 lb of lean ground beef (or turkey, or tofu)
2 cups cooked black beans drained
2 cups frozen corn
1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced no-salt added tomatoes
1 7oz package of uncooked vermicelli (a.k.a. fideo)
5 cups oragnic low sodium chicken stock
2 cups water
2 tsp smoked chipotle powder (I use McCormick's)
1 tsp ancho chile powder (I use McCormick's)
1 tsp New Mexico Chile powder
1 tbsp cumin
1/2 tsp Wurshitishire sauce
Olive Oil
1/2 a lime


In a medium pot sautee onion until it's translucent
Add garlic and sautee until fragrant
Add ground meat to brown--drain out fat once, it's cooked
Stir in spices (chipotel, ancho and NM chile powders and cumin)
Pour tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, water, chichen stock and Wurstishire sauce. Stir to combine.
Once liquid is boiling stir in vermicelli.
Cook about 10-13 mins on medium high heat until vermicelli is cooked.
Stir in corn and beans, cook until corn and beans have heated through.
Squeeze half a lime (about 1/2 tsp)onto soup & stir to combine just before serving (it will brighten up flavors).

I love to serve this recipe with home-made tortilla chips (just bake quartered corn tortillas that have been sprayed with olive oil until crispy) and a refreshing salad with avocado.




Do you have a special request or a recipe that you love and would like to get it made over into a heart healthy version? CLICK HERE and I will try help you!

My Pioneering Friends

As always I love to boast about great women doing great things and I'm so lucky to know so many great women :). Well recently I received an email from one of my friends up in Canada. Carolyn, who I've written about many times is still blazing trails! She has recently received a prestigious award for all her efforts in educating women about heart disease here's the email they sent her

Dear Carolyn,

We are delighted to let you know that you have been selected as one of 20 'Our Bodies Ourselves' Women's Health Heroes for 2009. Your work has inspired us all.

OBOS named 20 inductees from seven countries for our inaugural 2009 awards as we sought to find a way to celebrate women's health activism in communities around the world.

With our best wishes & congratulations --

Wendy Brovold
Christine Cupaiuolo
Judy Norsigian
Kiki Zeldes
...for the 'Our Bodies Ourselves' Board of Trustees and staff

'Our Bodies Ourselves' (OBOS), also known as the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective (BWHBC), is a nonprofit, public interest women’s health education, advocacy, and consulting organization. Beginning in 1970 with the publication of the landmark book, 'Our Bodies, Ourselves', OBOS has inspired and championed the women’s health activism movement.

I'm so proud of her! And wanted to share her great news with you all :)

Here's to more women like Carolyn blazing trails and educating people about the importance of women's heart health!
Congrats Carolyn!
-M

Grilled Teriaki Chicken w/ Jasmine Rice & Garlic Ginger Veggies

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Teriaki Chicken

1/2 cup Mrs. Dash Spicy Teriaki Merinade
1 tbs orange juice
1/8 tsp of liquid smoke (if broiled only)
4 Chicken Cutlets*
Toasted Sesame Seeds for garnish

* I recommend chicken cutlets because then you end up eating 1/2 a chicken breast (the recommended portion) but it looks like you are eating an entire chicken breast and my first rule is "you eat with your eyes FIRST!" To make your own chicken cutlets: half a chicken breast length wise, then pound the cutlet to about an 1/8 of an inch thickness, you'll end up with a large "steak". (I'll make a video ASAP b/c it's hard to explain :D )

To make the sauce simply mix the marinade with the orange juice and liquid smoke if you are broiling the chicken, if you are grilling then leave it out in a small bowl and set aside.
To broil:
Broil the chicken cutlets about 5-7 minutes on each side (depends on how far the chicken is from the broiler), you want to cook it until it's starting to char but doesn't char completely. Once the chicken is begining to char on the second side brush on the sauce on each side and cook for another 2 minutes (just long enough for the sauce to heat up).
If grilling:
Grill the chicken about 3-4 minutes on each side, just so you get the grill marks (b/c the chicken is so thin it will cook quickly so keep a close eye on it!) Brush on the sauce as it's done cooking and heat through.

Sprinkle some sesame seeds on top for garnish and serve with Jasmine rice (cooked to package directions) and Garlic Ginger Veggies (recipe follows)

Garlic Ginger Veggies

1 tsp finely chopped garlic
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
3 tbsp Smart Balance (or your favorite buttery spread)
4 cups broccoli florets
3 cups baby carrots
Pepper to taste

In a small bowl combine butter spread, garlic and ginger and microwave for about 30-45 seconds (long enough for the butter to melt) and let it sit.
Meanwhile steam broccoli and carrots, I do it in the microwave in a glass container.
When the broccoli and carrots are steamed (I like to do it so that my broccoli just turns bright green this leaves all the veggies crisp, toss with the butter mixture and as much pepper as you like.
It's an easy an flavorfull recipe that will go with any Asian inspired dish :).

Do you have a special request or a recipe that you love and would like to get it made over into a heart healthy version? CLICK HERE and I will try help you!

Bring on the veggies!

As some of you may know I am getting ready to try to have another baby! Well, I have to take more precautionary steps than most. First I needed to get off my heart meds...check! Now I need to get off my cholesterol meds...O-Oh!
It's widely known that pregnancy increases your cholesterol. And why shouldn't it right? I mean cholesterol is an essential part of developing the brain and who doesn't want to have a baby with a healthy brain? However, it can become an issue when you are blessed with genes that assist in naturally producing a ridiculous amount of cholesterol like myself. So what can one do to help prevent dangerous amounts of cholesterol during pregnancy? Eat more veggies!
At least that's my theory. I figured that if I can have a more vegetable based diet while reducing the amount of animal based protein I will be more successful at controling my cholesterol without meds. Who knows maybe after this adventure I won't need cholesterol meds! That would be great :).
So why blog about it? Well, for one I've decided to do more personal blogging, but also because this will affect the recipes I add to the site. You can expect more veggie based recipes as well as even leaner recipes and tips on reducing the amount of animal protein you are intaking.

Here's to a healthier YOU!
M.

Oh No, My links!

So in all my re-decorating I've lost all my links :(...so bare with me while I restore everything I had there if you have some good links for me leave me a comment or EMAIL ME!

Great Food Articles

I get a newsletter from HealthyEats.com and they often have some great articles! This time I thought I would share some of them....

Cocunut Oil: Good or Bad?
With the great demise of trans fats in the fast food industry the rise of coconut and palm oil has gone back up---that's right back up...they used to be the oils du'jour in the 80's (or so I'm told :) ). So the big question is...is coconut oil good or bad? Well, this article does a great job at displaying both sides of the argument. Bottom line? Well cocunut (and palm for that matter) oil is one of the very few plant based products that is a natural source of saturated fat and like the article explains "there’s strong evidence that suggests the various fatty acids found in coconut oil, including lauric, palmitic and myristic acid (all medium-chained triglycerides), raise both LDL (bad) and HDL (good) cholesterol and total cholesterol." That's right, it means that coconut oil is considered a medium-chained triglyceride...that's one of the feared words by those of us that suffer of high cholesterol. So that means that for those of us with heart issues, high cholesterol, or just have a healthy respect for high fat, high cholesterol foods coconut oil is a no-no.
What's that? You say that you like to eat out once in a while? Well then there's no avoiding high fat, high cholesterol, high sodium, high everything you shouldn't be eating foods but like my Dr. always says, there's no harm done in doing things you're not supposed to do in moderation...moderation, now THAT'S the challenge! ;D


Top 5 Herbs for Healthy Cooking

Top 5 Spices for Healthy Cooking

Herbs and Spices are the lifeline of a heart-conscious foodie! So naturally I was curious as to what Heatlhy Eats considered their top 5. And these articles certainly did not disapoint! They not only give an excellent explanation of the herbs and spices but also links to great recipes! So definitely take a look!

My favorite herbs and spice? Well, it's funny you ask...here they are!

Herbs
1. Cilandro (hey I'm Mexican, what do expect ;D )
2. Italian Parsley
3. Dill
4. Basil
5. Chives

Sure my fav aren't all necessarily practical for every kitchen but I use them like they are going out of style!

Spices
1. Paprika
2. Cinnamon (my oatmeal would not be the same without it!)
3. Cumin
4. New Mexico Chile
5. Nutmeg

So what's your top herbs and spices? Leave me a comment!