The benefits of Chia Seeds.

I have not blogged for over a long period of time and now I am back.

This blog serves too purposes.  One, is for me to keep a journal of what I do everyday. I want to use a journal to improve my spiritual life. I want to post some of the useful scriptures that I have heard or I have seen through my daily devotion.  Two, is I want to keep posting some great recipes or diet tips that can help me and others to improve our health and lives.

I want to have a better quality of life. I want not only to increase my energy but also to gain God's approval on my daily life.

So today, from my daily devotion. I have heard that we have to be thankful and know that we are blessed with God's love.

This is from

Psalm 34: I will bless the lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

I am losing my mind.....

I have been taking a break from my blog. I feel fatigue and exhausted.  I really have no energy to do anything after work. Since most patients have met their deductible, my surgery center is getting a lot of patients. I am basically working non-stop. From 6am to whenever. I don't even know.
My busy job is really ruining my diet.  I have been eating a lot of junk food and unnecessary free lunches.
I bet I have gained a lot of weight and I don't even want to go on a scale right now. I promise myself and everyone I have to be responsible for my own fault.  I will  be going on a stricter diet next week. I just can't wait.  : (

Mung Bean Pancakes

Like I have promised everyone here, I am going to post some plant sterols and stanols recipes here.

Both Plant Sterols and Stanols have proved to improved the HDL and lower the LDL in our system.  We can get the best result by eating about 2grams of Plant Sterols or Plant Stanols per day. 

Mung Bean is known to contain high quality Plant Sterols and Plant Stanols.  

And here is my recipe:

Mung Bean Pancakes (serve 2)

• 1/2 cup of skinned mung beans (soaked overnight) and grind in grinder.
• 1 egg white
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
• 1/2 fresh jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 2 – 3 green onions, finely chopped
• A few  cilantro 
• salt and pepper, to taste

Puree the beans along with about 1/4 cup of water in a food processor until smooth and thick, adding water as necessary for a thick battery consistency. Stir in or pulse in remaining ingredients. The batter should now be like a very thick pancake batter.

Add Egg White ONLY!

Add very little Olive Oil Only!

Heat a 10″ or larger skillet or griddle over medium heat and drizzle a bit of oil over. (Just like making pancakes. Make sure you have a non-stick pan. Ladle out a portion, swirl to a nice round and cook until well-browned, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook for another 3 minutes.  

Repeat the heating process, you will not need to put more oil if your pan is a good non-stock pan. 

Delicious/healthy Spinach Shake, You've got to try this!

This morning I have made a delicious shake and I would like to share it with you.

The Spinach , banana, berries shake


You will need:

1 cup of frozen spinach
1 medium ripe banana (cut in small pieces)
3 medium strawberries
1/4 cup of blueberries + blackberries
2 tsp truvia
8 oz of water

• Place frozen fruit in Microwave to defrost.
• Put cut banana with 8 oz of water in a blender.
• Put defrosted berries and spinach and Truvia to blend with banana.

This is a 250 calories shake if you add milk, it will be about 400 calories. Try this healthy spinach shake to start your day, you will feel energized and refresh.  I promise you that you will love the shake taste and you can't even tell Spinach is added to it.   My kids love this healthy shake and they are usually very picky!  So trust me, give it a try!

What to do with Leftover Turkey?

I was looking at the refrigerator and all I saw was Turkey, Turkey and Turkey. I have 2 containers of leftover Turkey that my hubby said that are too dry.  In order not to waste any food, I decided to make this Leftover Turkey casserole.   This recipe is originally from Betty Crocker recipe site but revised and inspired by my older son who just turned TEN 2 days ago. And here it is...

No-Waste Leftover Turkey Casserole


1 lb leftover Turkey (cut up in small pieces)
1 package (6.2 oz) fast-cooking long-grain and wild rice mix 
(you can also cook your own rice in a rice cooker)
1 can (10.75 oz) condense low sodium tomato soup
1/4 cup of skim milk (or low fat)
1/4 tsp pepper
Some Sea Salt for taste
1 cup frozen broccoli (cut up in small pieces)
1/4 cup of black olives (cut up in small pieces)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (4oz)

• Heat oven to 350 F. Spray 2-quart casserole with non-fat cooking spray.
• Prepare rice per instruction. 
• Cook the frozen broccoli in a small pot of hot water until soft.  Drain all the water and cut into pieces. 
• Mix cooked rice, drained broccoli, leftover Turkey, condense tomato soup, milk, pepper, black olive in the casserole and finally add Sea Salt to taste.
• Cover and bake 30 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese.
• Bake uncovered 5 to 10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

This is a pretty healthy recipe as long as you limit the sodium.  The black olives give a special kick to the casserole. I think this is the best way to use our dry Turkey after the Thanksgiving.  If you use the Turkey for sandwich, it will still be dry and chewy.  

Today, I just found more information about how Plant sterols and Stanols help lowering our cholesterol: This is what I found from the MSNBC website:

How do they work? 
Plant sterols and stanols act very much like cholesterol itself: Soft and waxy, they serve as building blocks for hormones, vitamins, and cell walls. These structural similarities give them their cholesterol-lowering capabilities. As sterols travel through the digestive tract, they compete with cholesterol, so some of the sterols are absorbed into the bloodstream instead of artery-clogging cholesterol. The bonus: Studies show that sterols and stanols don't affect artery-protecting HDL cholesterol.


I think this is very interesting: 

How do you eat them? Stick to 2g a day; getting more may actually reduce the positive effects, says Kendall. And once you start eating sterol-fortified foods, don't stop — otherwise your LDL levels will head back up. Follow these guidelines:

• Split up your 2g daily goal. "Have about 1g at breakfast, and then another at either lunch or dinner," says Keenan. This not only helps prevent absorption of the cholesterol in your meal but also blocks the cholesterol your body manufactures during digestion — which amounts to about 80% of your total count.
• Use them as substitutes. If a food you already eat comes in a sterol-fortified version, use that product instead. Otherwise, try to cut an equivalent number of calories elsewhere in your diet. Because sterol-fortified foods aren't necessarily low cal, they may cause harmful weight gain if you aren't mindful of how much you're eating.
• Include them as part of a low-fat, low-cholesterol, high-fiber diet. That will reduce your risk of heart disease even more. Although sterols and stanols do give your heart a boost, they aren't your only route to good health.

Here are more information about Sterols and Stanols from Livestrong.com: 

Nature's Top Ten Sources of Sterols and Stanols

Many of the foods that you already enjoy are rich sources of plant sterols and stanols. These include corn oil (0.13g/Tbsp), sunflower oil (0.1g/Tbsp), many types of beans (0.07g/1/2 cup), corn (0.06g/1/2 cup), peanut butter (0.05g/2 Tbsp), olive oil (0.03 g/1 Tbsp), almonds (0.02g/1 oz.), oranges (0.02g/1 small orange), apples (0.01g/1 small apple) and avocados (0.008g/1 oz).

Commercial Sources of Sterols and Stanols

Sterols and stanols are also available in commercial foods that have been fortified with them. These include Benecol spread (0.85g/tbsp), Healthy Heart Yogurt 0.4g/6 oz.), Lifetime lowfat cheese (0.65g/1 oz.), Minute Maid Premium Heartwise orange juice (0.04g/8 oz.), Nature Valley Healthy Heart Chewy Granola Bars (0.4g/bar), Orowheat whole grain bread (0.4g/1 1/2 slices) and Take Control spread (1.7g/Tbsp)

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/32522-foods-fortified-plant-sterols-stanols/#ixzz1esS1zmaG

I am wondering how everyone does after the Thanksgiving feast? I did pretty well this year. Instead of putting gravy on my Turkey, I sprinkled some pepper and a little bit of salt for the taste. I am wondering why most American don't marinade their Turkeys before they cook them? I guess that will give their guests an option of putting extra fat and calories to their Turkey or not. This Thanksgiving, I put a lot of focus on the Turkey and my water. They did fill my tummy up. After the big meal, I decided to eat light and exercise today. This morning, I went to the Grapevine Mills to do some window shopping. I window shopped for 2 hours and I basically walked the entire time. It was a very good and fun exercise. The reason why I didn't buy much of the stuff that were "on sale" because I found that there were not too much sale. The stuff that had "big discount", I absolutely have no desire to buy. I guess the "Black Friday" is so overrated. It just gives the retailers a chance to make some money during this slow season. It is good that people are shopping but do we really need all these junks? Anyway, today I have a great recipe to share with everyone. This is pretty healthy if you go with the low fat option and this is pretty additive as well. This is the famous Harry and David Pepper and onion relish cheese dip. This cheese dip is best with wheat crackers. Two weeks ago, I went to the outlet mall and I found Harry and David in there. I got 4 jars of those Pepper and Onion Relish for about $15. It was such a good deal. Then I used the reduced fat whipped cream Weight Watcher cheese spread. Basically, I used like one 8 oz cream cheese per 4 oz of Pepper and Onion relish. I mixed them up very well and make them my favorite dip. I have used that dip both warm and cold. I actually like it better when it is warm. It is just delectable!