Banana-Orange Smoothie

I got the munchies today at the café, so I dug around and started throwing things in the blender. I know it's January, and icy drinks aren't the usual fare, but this really hit the spot.

Juice of 2 oranges (the fresh squeezed juice is what makes it so good)
12 ice cubes
½ cup plain non-fat yogurt
2 tsp. sugar
2 tbsp. skim milk
1 small banana

Dump all these in a blender and BLEND. Add more milk until you achieve your desired consistency. Yummy.

Auntie Rita's Minestrone Soup

While our dear friends the Baileys were in the states over Christmas, their friend "Auntie" Rita gave them this fantastic recipe. Just looking at the page, spattered in olive oil with penciled-in additions, you can tell that this in one of those well-loved and made-often recipes that has gradually improved over the years.

It has gotten COLD here in Santiago (the talk is that it might snow!), so today this soup really warmed us up. It was relatively simple to make and even better, it made a ton. Since I do most of the cooking, I love leftovers!

One thing to look out for when purchasing your ingredients is to make sure that your chicken broth or bouillon cubes don't have any hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils or MSG (monosodiun glutamate). You want to avoid the hydrogenated oils to protect your heart and the MSG to avoid migraines, headaches,and even asthma-like symptoms.

¼ cup olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic, minced
8 cups (2L) chicken broth
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
5 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
2 cups chopped celery
3 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and quartered
¾ cup small shell pasta
2 cups chopped cabbage (collards or grelos work well too)
2 (15 oz.) cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

In a large stockpot, heat olive oil. Sauté onion and celery about 3 minutes on med high heat. Add minced garlic and sauté another minute, careful not to burn the garlic. Add broth, diced tomatoes, carrots, parsley, and cabbage.

Add
1 tbsp. dried basil
1 tbsp. italian seasoning
1 tbsp. oregano
½ tsp. salt and ground pepper to taste.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. Add zucchini and beans, bring to a boil again. Then add the pasta, boil for one minute and then shut off heat and let sit for approx. 15 minutes. Garnish with fresh grated parmesan cheese and serve with a nice crusty whole-grain bread.

Southwest Chicken and Black Bean Soup

This recipe came together in about 15 minutes this morning and it was great! I used leftover homemade black beans, so if you choose to use the canned variety be sure to rinse them to eliminate the excess sodium. This is fantastic with corn bread.

1 onion, chopped fine
1 Tbsp. olive oil
5 cups water
2 cans black beans or 2 cups cooked
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 cup cooked brown rice
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. chicken bouillon granules
2 tsp. cumin
½ tsp. garlic powder (not garlic salt)
2 tsp. chili powder
1 10oz. package frozen corn
½ lb. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into small pieces

In a large sauce pan, sautee the onion in the olive oil until soft. Then add water, beans, tomatoes, rice, seasonings, corn and chicken. Simmer at least 15 to 20 minutes to allow the chicken to cook and the flavors to blend.
Serves 10.

Healthful Eating Hazards

Often when we try to revamp our diet we are met with many obstacles. Even when we completely change our shopping list, we still need to think about changing our eating habits when we are not eating in our home - which for most of is quite often.

• the workplace - Do you have a breakroom stocked with high fat/low nutrition snacks? Think about bringing healthier alternatives such as carrots sticks and hummus (our new favorite combo) or your favorote in-season fruit. For us our workplace hazard was our own business: We own a café and had grown accustomed to eating breakfast there. What started out as a pastry every once in a while became a full fledged habit at 3-4 times a week. Exchanging the pastry for two generous slices of rustic toast with jam eliminated at least 14g total fat and 8g saturated fat every time we normally would have eaten a pastry.
  

• in a rush - Convencience food can be a killer - literally! When we don't plan out our meals and we only think about them when we want to eat in the next 15 minutes to a half hour, we are particularly vulnerable to eating junk food. I'm not just talking about potato chips and soda - I mean all kinds of fast food, ordering pizza, many frozen dinners, and take-out. If you aren't very careful with your selections you may wind up eating more fat, cholesterol, and calories in one meal than you should for an entire day. Watch out!
• Some tips:Think about your week and on days when your have time to cook make a little extra so that you'll have healthy options on your busiest days. LefOr for a great meal in just minutes keep ingredients on-hand for salad anytime. One of the greatest innovations in recent years for fast-yet-healthy-food are the bags of pre-washed greens that just need toppings.
  

• beverages - Everyone knows that regular soda is loaded with tons of sugar, but what about our favorite morning beverages? In Spain, pretty much all cafés and restaurants serve a café con leche with whole milk. My husband was averaging about three a day (~15oz.) Just switching to three cortados (a shot of espresso with just a few drops of milk) saved him 14g total fat and 8.5g saturated fat every day. Sometimes little changes can have the biggest difference.

These are just a few hazards we've encountered and how we try to deal with them. Where is it hardest for you to eat well and how do you deal with it?

Lemon Garlic Chicken with Broccoli

Who says a dish has to have a lot of fat to be packed with flavor? The lemon really adds a lot of zing and brings a new twist to everyday ingredients.

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed
1 tbsp. canola oil
1 tsp. dried oregano
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ cup water
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
½ tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. low-sodium chicken bouillon granules
1 large bunch fresh broccoli, cut into florets

In a medium sauce pan, brown chicken in the canola oil. Add all other ingredients except broccoli and allow to simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes. Add broccoli and continue to cook until broccoli is just tender. Fantastic over whole grain pasta or brown rice.

Serves: 6 Per serving: calories 118; total fat 3g; saturated fat <1g;>

Hummus

This has been one of our family 's favorites for some time - even before we were intentional about cutting out cholesterol. I make this one so often that my girls call garbanzo beans "hummus beans." This is a fantastic dip with crackers (make sure they are
free of all hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils!) and fresh vegetables.

Hummus

1 (15 oz.) can chick peas (garbanzo beans)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon tahini (a paste made from sesame seeds)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt (optional)
1 teaspoons olive oil

Drain the chick-peas, reserving 1 tablespoon of the liquid. Rinse and drain the chick-peas. In a large bowl combine all ingredients except for the olive oil. Using a hand blender, process until a smooth creamy texture is achieved. A food processor also works well. (I have not had much luck with conventional blenders and making hummus.) If desired, salt to taste. Place in a serving bowl and drizzle olive oil on top.
Makes 1 1/2 cups: 12 servings
Per serving (2 tbsp): 53 calories, 1.8 g fat (.1g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 2 g protein, 8.6g carbohydrates, 106mg sodium, 1.6 g fiber

Our Journey to Wellness (Poached Pears)

A few months ago there was a scare in my husband Matt's family, so he decided to go to the doctor and get a check-up and have his cholesterol checked. Being only 29, active, running three times a week, and eating what we thought was a fairly healthy diet, we really weren't expecting the results we got - the doctor even joked a bit at why such a young guy was so concerned when Matt first went in.

Then we got the results back - really high LDL (bad cholesterol) and really low HDL (good cholesterol) - not a good combo at all. The doctor immediately wanted to put Matt on cholesterol lowering drugs, but we asked for a three month grace period to see if we could improve his levels through changing our diet and exercise habits. We thought that if lifestyle changes didn't affect his levels, then it would seem that in his case heredity was winning out and he would have to begin medication. But if there was something we could do about it without costly medication, then this was the preferable choice for us.

We have three girls, and the week after his diagnosis our third daughter was born so there was no way that I was going to prepare special meals for Matt. So thus began our whole family's journey toward eating to take care of our hearts.

I knew that I would need some help so I immediately ordered two new cookbooks: the American Heart Association's Low-Cholesterol Cookbook and Eating for Lower Cholesterol by Elaine Trujillo and Catherine Jones. These have been great. Not only do they have great recipes but they have great tips for eating well, cutting cholesterol and boosting nutrition.

Matt has since gone in for his three month check-up and his levels were drastically reduced. So much so that the doctor said that for now medication is not necessary. In six months he has another test to make sure things are not creeping back up. An added bonus of all this was that Matt lost weight as well. We weren't eating with the intent to lose weight, but to gain health, however in the process Matt has lost 12 kg. (about 26 lbs.).

So all of this to let you know why healthful eating is so important to us in the first place. And so I'll leave you with a fantastic dessert that we discovered over the holidays that is fat free yet tastes absolutely decadent.

Pears Poached in Red Wine with Cinnamon and Orange

1 bottle red wine (75cl.)
1 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
3 strips orange zest
6 large ripe pears, peeled

Bring first four ingredients to a boil over medium high heat in a medium sized saucepan. Add pears, return to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow pears to absorb the syrup for at least three hours. Can be served warm or cold and can be prepared several days in advance.