Soups On!

Last night at our TOPS meeting, we talked about eating healthy soups! Yummm, I love soup! The weather is starting to change, and it's the perfect time for some good soup.

I found a great website this morning called Healthy Soup Recipe and just like the name says, it is filled with healthy soup recipes! It has step by step instructions for making the soup and even gives you pictures of each step! Now this is my kind of recipe! lol!

I'm going to try the Healthy Chicken Chowder soup.

My favorite soup to make is Vegetable soup in the crockpot. Here's a similar recipe to what I usually make:

A flavorful crockpot soup recipe with potatoes, tomatoes, and corn.

Crockpot Vegetable Soup Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound soup bones and 1 pound stew beef, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 quarts water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup celery, diced
• 2 cups potatoes, diced
• 1 can (12 to 16 ounces) whole kernel corn, undrained
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) tomatoes, diced
• 2 turnips, peeled and finely chopped

PREPARATION:

Place the beef, water, salts, onions, carrots and celery in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours. Remove the soup bones and chop any meat clinging to the bones; return to pot. Add potatoes, corn, tomatoes and turnips. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 to 3 hours longer.
Serves 10 to 12.

52 Ways to Lose a Pound a Week

Here is a great article from Prevention.com.

You can lose weight and keep it off forever. How can I be so sure? Besides mountains of research from leading experts, there are thousands of Prevention readers who have successfully done it. Over the years, their letters and e-mails have been filled with practical tips, as well as the pride and pleasure of people who feel great about themselves. They can run, jump, play on the floor with the kids, wear sexy clothes--newly empowered to do whatever they want.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

What a week...

Once again another crazy week in our household... yes, it was nice to have a long weekend over Labor Day, but it made things at work even more crazy than usual....

Becca has had a pretty crappy time of it lately healthwise.... She complained last week of having pain in her lower back, and we were afraid that it was her kidneys because she's on a pretty high does of motrin for her abdominal pain. Luckily, it wasn't that.... but it was a lower lumbar strain. Our pediatrician referred her to a massage therapist and she felt that that might help. So, we made an appointment with a woman that a friend recommended. She went on Wednesday. She spent over an hour working on her back and her head.

We gave her Becca's whole medical history (boy did that take some time!) from her daily Headaches which are going on almost 3 years now, to her abdominal pain since last October, to them finding her bladder cancer in November, being diagnosed with PCOS in January, to the continued abdominal pain.... anyway, she tried several types of deep massage that she hopes may help her. She worked on her back, abdomen (because there are back muscles that actually can cause pain in the abdomen) and her neck and head.

She warned us that she'd feel like she got hit by a Mack truck 24-48 hours after she worked on her, and she was right.... Becca came to my office after work Thursday in tears. Her head pain was about 8 and she couldn't even think straight. She was supposed to go to work, but she called in sick and went home... she couldn't make it to school the next day either because the head pain was so bad. She also could barely move her neck. Luckily by Friday afternoon, things started to ease up and she started feeling better.

This morning, she said her head is pretty much back to normal (normal meaning pain but tolerable) but that her abdominal pain was actually a bit better and the back pain was gone! So I guess it was worth it, besides the two days of hell she went through.....

Unfortunately, her therapist had emergency gall bladder surgery Saturday morning! Can you believe it??? Not sure what we are going to do now.... We were supposed to call her Monday and let her know how things were going.

Please keep Becca in your prayers on Tuesday as we head to the Urological Oncologist for Becca's second bladder scope since her surgery. We needs lots of prayers that there is no sign of the cancer returning!!!!

Hope you all have a great week!

Vegetarian Lasagna

Here is a recipe for Vegetarian Lasagna that sounds delicious!

Ingredients

• 8 dried lasagna noodles
• 1 10-ounce package frozen chopped broccoli
• 1 14-1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 15-ounce can no salt added tomato sauce
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped green or red sweet pepper
• 1-1/2 teaspoons dried basil or oregano, crushed
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 beaten egg
• 2 cups fat-free ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (4 ounces)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1. Cook noodles and broccoli separately according to their package directions; drain well. Set aside.

2. For sauce, in a large saucepan stir together tomato sauce, undrained diced tomatoes, celery, onion, sweet pepper, basil, bay leaves, garlic, and salt. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Summer reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes or until sauce is thick, stirring occasionally. Discard bay leaves.

3. Meanwhile, for filling, in a bowl stir together egg, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, and black pepper. Stir in cooked broccoli.

4. Spread about 1/2 cup of the sauce in a 3-quart rectangular baking dish. Top with half of the noodles, half of the filling, and half of the remaining sauce. Repeat layers, ending with the sauce.

5. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree F. oven for 25 minutes; sprinke with mozzarella. Bake about 5 minutes more or until heated through. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Makes 8 servings.

Are Summer Treats Adding to your Waistline?

Unfortunately, they are mine! I'm having a very hard time this summer... and the biggest culprit seems to be ice cream. Here's a great article from caloriesperhour that gives some great ideas on cool treats!

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During hot weather you may find yourself reaching for a cool treat to help beat the heat. Ice cream cones and root beer floats may temporarily help relieve the heat, but they'll most certainly add calories -- and pounds -- where you want them the least.

It's true that there is something very refreshing about a treat that is sweet and cool on a hot day. But it doesn't have to be something that's high in calories and melts away your ambition to lose weight.

When picking something sweet and cool, aim for 100 calories or
less. Options include Fudgsicles, flavored yogurts that you can
place into the freezer, even pre-portioned servings of ice cream.
And for that root beer float, use diet root beer and a low calorie
ice cream.

Cool treats that incorporate nutrients from fruits are always a
great option. So don't forget fruit juice bars, or simply a handful
of cold, crisp grapes or berries!

To make a cool, refreshing smoothie, try whirling frozen berries in
a blender with skim milk and a little vanilla flavoring. You can
also enjoy a frozen banana, dipping it into 2 tablespoons of
chocolate syrup. But that totals 200 calories, so consider sharing
it with a friend!

Sliced peaches and nectarines can be served really cold or even
frozen with a drizzle of vanilla yogurt for a delicious, cool
treat. And don't forget about the melons I wrote about a few weeks
ago. You'll find the article in our newsletter archives if you
missed it.

Finding ways to trim calories can be even tougher when you're
feeling deprived. By having low calorie cool treats as desserts or
special snacks, you can cool off without consequences.

Healthy Regards,
Megan Porter, RD
http://www.caloriesperhour.com/news.html

Farmer's Market

Do you have a Farmer's Market near you? I just love going to them!

Farmers' markets are a great place to find the freshest sweet corn, the reddest, ripest tomatoes and the most fragrant, flavorful strawberries. You can taste heirloom varietals and sample hard-to-find items like ramps, morel mushrooms, cardoons and quince. Many market vendors provide recipes and cooking tips for their products. Some markets sell house-made jams and hearth-baked breads, free-range chickens and fresh eggs, making gathering ingredients for tonight's dinner a snap.

We went to one last week and picked up a nice variety of both fruits and vegetables, as well as some home made bread that was heavenly!

Next time you see a Farmer's Market, stop in! I'm sure you'll be eating healthy that night!

Anniversary Present

Mike forgot his wedding anniversary and his wife was really ticked off at him.

She told him, "Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in under 6 seconds, AND IT BETTER BE THERE."

The next morning, Mike got up really early.

When his wife woke up a couple of hours later, she looked out the window, and sure enough, there was a small gift-wrapped box sitting in the middle of the driveway. Confused, the wife put on her robe, ran out to the driveway, and took the box into the house.

She opened it, and found a brand new bathroom scale.

Mike is not yet well enough to have visitors.