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If you exchange bleu cheese for feta in your salad, and skip the dried cranberries and candied walnuts altogether, you’ll save 275 calories! Simple changes on your plate can mean huge changes to your abs!
Researchers at Tufts University found that even a 1% to 2% dip in hydration, the point at which you feel thirsty, can make you sluggish. Your cells rely on water to make and use energy. It is recommended to drink at least half a cup every hour, or 8 cups throughout the day.
Once you’ve had homemade salsa, you’ll never go back to vinegar-tinged jarred salsa again. This salsa recipe mimics that of Mexican restaurants in that it’s made with fresh ingredients and, of course, made without vinegar. It’s super impressive to whip up some salsa on the fly for when friends or family stops by. I make mine in a food processor, but you can also use a blender. Tweak it to your liking, add more peppers. This recipe makes a medium-hot salsa.
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Ingredients:
Huge handful of fresh cilantro.
1 clove of garlic.
3 small jalapenos.
1 small onion.
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Ingredients:
2 14 oz cans of whole tomatoes.
2 14 oz cans of diced tomatoes with green chiles.
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Dice onion
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Slice jalapenos long ways
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Then dice jalapenos, seeds and all to give it a nice kick
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Dice 1 clove of garlic
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Combine canned tomatoes, onion, jalapenos and garlic in the food processor.
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Add a teaspoon (or so) of sugar
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Add a teaspoon of ground cumin to give it a good “Mexican” flavor. Then pulse the food processor about 4-6 times, depending on how chunky you like it. Keep pulsing if you like your salsa a thinner consistency.
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Here’s where it all comes together. Cilantro. Use a lot of it. It gives it a good garden taste. I use a huge handful, and then pulse for 4 more pulses.
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And there you have homemade salsa. I blend mine to a medium consistency. Serve with chips, with tacos, steaks, etc. Great to have in the fridge all week long to accompany your dinners, and exceptionally good for a low-calorie snack.
Delicious herbs from our Supernatural Garden. Fresh chives, Rosemary, Dill and peppers. They are so easy to grow, and there is always an abundance of fresh herbs from the garden. Not only are they fab for adding kick to your meals, but there are multiple at home spa recipes you can try to even use more of your herbs. Brilliant!
Flavored waters are popular at high end spas, and they are so simple to make at home. Jasmine flowers are perfect for making a fragrant and refreshing drink to enjoy as you pamper yourself.
Jasmine water is especially popular in India, China and Southeast asia.
Simply place jasmine flowers (or lavender or rose) into a glass pitcher and cover with filtered water. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours to allow the flowers to perfume the water. Strain the liquid, discarding the jasmine, lavender or rose. Of note, make sure the flowers you are using are organic to be sure you are not drinking pesticides with your water.
I just ordered the new Body By Bethenny yoga DVD on Amazon. I was all prepared to wait the standard week to receive it by mail, but fortunately, Amazon let me view it for free (after purchase) immediately…and then stores the video in my Video Library on Amazon’s site. They also give you the option to send it to TIVO or download it to your computer.
Kudos to Amazon for not making a girl wait 7-10 business days to start getting a better body. Cool feature!
Check out the trailer here:
Teresa Giudice (Real Housewives of New Jersey) has just written an incredible book on the art of Italian cooking. More than just a cookbook, this is more like a great book with recipes, because there’s lots of dialogue and pictures to go along with the amazing recipes. I especially love the pictures she shares of her house and family (four darling little girls and her juicy husband, Joe.)
I was so impressed with Teresa’s book. I mean, who doesn’t want to have access to a girlfriend whose parents are straight from the old country and taught her everything they know about old-school Italian cooking?
I adore that she believes so strongly in her heritage. I adore people of any culture that maintain their roots and are deeply proud of being Italian, Swedish, German, etc. I love tradition. It’s something I wish I had in my own family. Truth be told, I really have no idea where I came from. I’m blonde, blue eyed, and not exactly what you’d call dark complected. I know that originally my family came from France. Beyond that, it’s a bit unclear. I’ve always found it to be so interesting to listen to people who have deep heritage. I need to visit Ancestry.com.
Teresa shares recipes in her new book, Skinny Italian, that have gone back many generations. She shares all of her bag of tricks…all the while doing it with her Jersey-Girl attitude and sass!
I have literally not been able to put this book down for two weeks. Teresa has even inspired me to try my hand at canning this summer (there’s a whole section on this in her book along with step by step instructions.)
Admittedly, the Real Housewives franchises have tried to market almost every one of their ladies into a brand…(think Vicki Gunvalson with her new book or LuAnn the Countess with her singing.) With all the personal branding promotion, I admit I looked at Teresa’s book with a side-eye, ala Tardy For the Party.
But Skinny Italian is the real deal. Real authentic recipes taught by real authentic Italians. Teresa, I love, love love your new book. Super-impressive work, Jersey-Girl!
So it’s May here in Cincinnati, otherwise known as zone 6, and everything in my garden and yard is starting to bloom. It’s such a beautiful time of the year when plants are such a beautiful spring-green. The rain has been good this season, thus far. Here’s what’s happening in my yard. Having luck in your yard this year?
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Cilantro. This gorgeous cilantro has taken root and is spreading quickly. Good thing, because I’ll need at least a cup of this cilantro this evening for a homemade salsa I’m making. It makes salsa and Pico de Gallo come to life with freshness.
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Parsley. I haven’t had a chance to plant this outside yet as I’ve only had it a few days, but it looks great sitting in my kitchen windowsill. I’d let it grow there all season, but I want it to expand. I’m going to need a lot more than this to make Italian dishes all summer long.
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Annabelle Hydrangeas. These will definitely be the sweetheart of my yard when they are in bloom. They produce enormous white flowers that are between 8-12″ wide! They also produce lots of flowers. Perfect if you like having vases of flowers around your house (like I do.)
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Backyard. The perfect place to be. I love it here. I don’t like that all the grass is worn off under the tire swing, but you try keeping 17 neighbor kids out of your yard. I surrendered. They have fun, so what’s a little rough spot in your lawn at the end of the day? There are bigger fish to fry than that.
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Flowering Cherry Blossom Tree. I planted this about a month ago. It accepted its chosen location very well, but I am concerned about some of the leaves…note the top right leaf has tiny holes in it, which appears to be from pests. I will spray it with organic pest killer this weekend.
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Dwarf Anjou Pear Tree. Another freshly planted tree, about a month into the ground. I cannot wait for fresh fruit!
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Dwarf Granny Smith Apple Tree. Planted about a month ago, it’s doing a great job of getting rooted in place. The fruit trees will be treated organically, of course.
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Dwarf Granny Smith Apple Tree. Up until about four days ago, I thought this tree was dead. It has been in the ground for over a month without even a sign of life. Luckily, I waited before I decided to pull it out of the ground. Four days ago, I noticed these little stubs. It’s a beautiful thing!
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Inside of composter. Okay, brace yourself on this one. This is the inside of my composter. You’ll find things like a huge tree root system, coffee grounds, celery, salad, leaves, etc. This will take almost a year to break down and turn into soil. But think of the organic material I’ll have for next year, and all the garbage I’ll be saving from the landfills.
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Earth Machine Composter. This is the what the composter looks like, tucked back into the corner of my yard. It blends right in behind a pine tree. Best of all, I’m helping save the Earth. Love that!
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Bartlett Pear Tree. It won’t produce fruit this year, but when it does…yum! Nothing like eating fruit right from the tree when it’s still warm from the sun.
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Rows of lettuces. This is new this year, a raised vegetable bed. These were all planted this past Saturday from seed, and I took these pictures on Thursday evening. Less than seven days, and they are sprouting already.
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Raised vegetable bed. I’m so excited to add this bed to my yard this year. Because my yard is filled with bunnies and squirrels, growing veggies on the ground in the traditional method is pure hassle. A raised bed is a great way to keep out pests , to assure your soil is completely organic, and it spares your back when bending over when gardening. I have rows of designer lettuces, spinach, strawberries, and tomatoes in this bed.
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Stargazer lilies. These were planted as bulbs, and have been in the ground for about five weeks now. These will produce sensational Stargazer lilies throughout the summer. Perfect for cutting and putting in vases around the house. Gorgeous in bouquets. Each stem will produce at least a half dozen huge flowers.
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Rosemary. Rosemary just screams “put me on some roasted potatoes!” This herb will spread out and become a wonderful addition to my Mediterranean meals I make this summer.
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Garden Salsa Peppers. The first peppers are emerging from the baby flower pods. Last year my garden salsa pepper plant produced tons of peppers. If they keep on producing abundantly, I have no problems making salsa every weekend! Bring it!
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Dill. Okay, so she’s not prettiest girl at the dance. Dill is not a very attractive herb. It grows eratically and in awkward shapes. But, there’s nothing like fresh dill. It’s superb in dips, in salads, on seafood, and on my infamous cucumber sandwiches. Delicious when you mix it with lettuces in your salad.
When you start getting serious about your diet and nutrition, you start getting in touch with meals that are between 300-350 calories. If you are eating every 3-4 hours and keeping your body fueled properly, the magic calorie count for each meal is between 300-350 calories.
Rocco DiSpirito knows all about meals that are 350 calories or less. When Rocco himself started training to get his own body in top notch form, he realized that all the foods he had previously made as an acclaimed chef were not going to cut it if he wanted to slim down and be healthy.
His new cookbook, Now Eat This 150 of America’s comfort foods all under 350 calories brilliantly takes dishes, like crab cakes, from 1140 calories down to 290 calories. Brilliant!
Rocco slimmed down his body 30 pounds by eating meals from his new cookbook without feeling deprived. After all, the cookbook contains dishes like macaroni and cheese and even brownies. Very impressive, Mr. DiSpirito.
According to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, bean eaters weigh less and have slimmer middles. Beans are super fat fighters because they contain the ideal combination of fat-busting nutrients—soluble and insoluble fiber, protein, and a type of fat-burning carb called resistant starch.
Cuban Black Bean Soup
CUBAN BLACK BEAN SOUP
Ingredients:
Drain the beans and reserve the liquid.
In a large dutch oven or soup pot, saute onions, garlic, and spices in oil over medium heat, stirring until onions are translucent. Add carrots and celery, saute for 3-4 minutes more. Add peppers and saute another 5 minutes. Add salt, pepper, parsley, and tomatoes. Simmer until the vegetables are tender.
Combine the drained black beans with the vegetables. Add in as much bean liquid as you like, more for a thinner soup, less if you like it thicker. Add the orange rind and simmer on low for about 30-45 minutes. Stir often.
Remove orange rind. Stick blend the soup until it’s as thick as you like. (Or remove a cup or two of soup to blender, blend, then add back to soup.) Add fresh orange juice and cook 5-10 minutes more. Taste. Serve on hot rice. Garnish with chopped onions, chiles, and/or lime wedges.
