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!

What can help lowering cholesterol?

The American Heart Association's (AHA), Diet and Lifestyle Recommendations state that individuals should consume plant sterols and plant stanols from a variety of foods and beverages every day—just as they would use cholesterol-lowering medication to maintain LDL (bad) cholesterol reductions from these products. The AHA also notes that maximum effects are achieved at plant sterol and plant stanol intake of approximately 2 grams per day.

A study has been done for years about the relationship between these two "S" plants and how they can affect our cholesterol.  They have found that if we consume just 1.8 to 2.8 grams of plant sterol and plant stanol, we will be able to lower our cholesterol by 7 to 11 % .

Of course, there is no miracle for lowering our cholesterol but I am here to help. 

Before I move on, I want to post all the fortified food that have the Plants "S" in them.  We can just buy these in the grocery store and feel good eating them. 

Food Sources of Plant Sterols	Amount (grams)
Avocado, 1 small	0.13 g
Corn oil, 1 Tbsp	0.13 g
Sunflower seeds, 1/4 cup	0.19 g
Oat bar with plant sterols, 1 bar	0.40 g
Milk with plant sterols, 8 oz	0.40 g
Lifetime Low-Fat Cheese Singles, 1 slice (2/3 oz)	0.40 g
Carazonas Tortilla Chips, 10 chips	0.40 g
Nature Valley Healthy Heart Honey Nut Bar, 1 bar	0.40 g
Thomas’ Hearty Grains Oatmeal & Honey English Muffin, 1	0.40 g
CocoaVia Chocolate Covered Almonds, 13 almonds	0.70 g
CocoaVia Snack Bar, 1 bar	0.90 g
Orange juice with plant sterols, 1 cup	1.00 g
Vegetable oil spread with plant sterols, 1 Tbsp	1.00 g
Right Direction Chocolate Chip Cookies, 1 cookie	1.30 g
Fruit and yogurt flavored drink with plant sterols, 3.4 oz bottle	2.00 g

Remember eating more than 2 grams of plant sterol and plant stanol a day will not provide additional cholesterol lowering benefits. So with that said, all we will need to do is to eat up to 2 grams of  the plant "S" and be happy.

Anyway, in the next few days, I will try to include Plant "S" in my diet everyday. This is a test to see how a change of diet can change my cholesterol. 

 

More on how to prepare for the Holidays.

Here is my advise about dealing with the holidays. I know I am eating a lot less than before but I am looking forward to going to the Thanksgiving dinner that my in-law is going to prepare.
I want to enjoy the food but I don't want to gain weight.  It is so easy for us to gain weight during the holidays.

There are a few reasons for that:

We get stressful when it gets closer to Christmas.  There are so much to do and prepare and we will tend to sleep less.  When we sleep less, we will probably eat more to stay awake. And for some people to make it worse, they will try to drink a lot of Starbucks specialty drinks to keep themselves awake and alert for the entire day.  Some of those drinks can be really high in calories.  Like my favorite Grande Chai Latte, it has about 250 Calories!
We have to get more sleep during our holidays!  If you need naps, go take some naps instead of eating and drinking.  Don't pamper yourself too much.

One thing that we have to focus on is "PLAN" ahead of time.  I cannot stress enough about "Planning".
Rehearse the Thanksgiving dinner in your head.  Try to find out what are going to be served during the Thanksgiving dinner. Make a plan of what you are going to eat.  Image you are eating the Thanksgiving dinner now, how many pieces of Turkey are you going to eat? How much gravy are you going to put on the Turkey?  Are you going to eat a big piece of cake after the dinner? Try to eat about 1/3 of what you will usually put on your plate.  You can always ask to pack some leftover home.  Limit the plates your are going to eat.  Ask yourself, "What is my favorite dish?"  If you are going to eat more of your favorite dish, you will need to eat less of the other dishes or you will even have to scarify and not eat some of the dishes on the table.
Try to drink a lot of water or hot tea (no sugar in the tea) before your meal that will help filling you up. Also try to wear something tight.  Like a tight cute top. Please don't wear those big old sweat shirts or T-shirts that can hide your tummy.  You need to wear something elegant.  You want to show off your body.
Imagine if you eat a lot and your tummy is all big and ugly?  How long will it take for you to lose your weight back to your ideal weight? If you gain 5 pounds on this thanksgiving dinner, you will gain another 5 pounds in the coming weeks.  You will give up and then keep eating yourself to depression.  Imagine how awful you will feel after this big Thanksgiving meal? Thanksgiving is a religious holiday. We want to thank God for giving us all that we have, however; it is not a time to have a big feast and kill yourself!  God wants us to take good care of our bodies.  Just remember this point and you will stop eating! Just remember, you will be eating those Turkey leftover for another week anyway, so take it easy.  Try to balance your diet out! Don't let your friends and family drag you into a diet twilight zone!

Here is part of the article that I read from the Web MD.  I think it really agrees with what I am talking here.
Here are some great tips about how can you refuse food during the dinner:  

The easiest way out?  Just say "no" -- over and over and over, the experts say.

"We call this the broken record technique," says Huberman. "If you continue to politely refuse the food pusher, eventually they will stop pushing you. You don't have to be rude, but you do have to be firm."

Beck adds that we should feel entitled to do what is good for us.

"If you were refusing food because of an allergy or for religious reasons, you wouldn't think twice about saying 'no' and sticking to it," Beck says. "So give yourself that same sense of entitlement when you say 'no' to something because you are protecting your good health."

There's no need for lots of explanation about why you don't want to eat something. You don't even have to mention the word "diet."

"It's really OK to just say 'No, thank you -- it smells divine, but I'm really full.' You don't have to offer more explanation than that," says Huberman.

If you simply can't get away without accepting something fattening on your plate, Muller says, accept it. Then, just walk into the next room and dump it. (this is the part that I don't really like to do because I don't like to waste food)

"Just because it's on your plate or in your hand," she says, "doesn't mean you have to eat it."

So again, good luck with your Thanksgiving dinner and I will follow up with you all soon. Stay strong!

I am going to put this blog on my cell phone when I go for my dinner.  If I feel weak, I will read this blog. I will remind myself, I really do not need to over stuff myself on this Thanksgiving day!

I finally cut the pineapple that I placed upside down in my refrigerator.  The pineapple is sooooo sweet. I don't know if anyone else has tried this yet?  Take my advise now, start putting your pineapple upside down!

Today, I am going to give you some tips on how to clean up different spills on your carpet.  The reason why I want to share this is I know a lot of people are going to have their Thanksgiving dinner in their house.  Spills are inevitable especially if you are inviting people with kids or their careless, air headed boy friends or husbands for Thanksgiving.

Read this and you will thank me later....

For Oil or Grease spills on carpet:
1. Use paper towel to soak up all the grease on your carpet. Press down on it only, do not wipe from left to right.
2. Then use a damp towel and put a teaspoon of detergent on it.  Press on the spill for 3 minutes. This will help breaking the grease down.
3. Then use another damp towel and press on the spill area for a few times.
4. Dry the area with a dry towel afterwards.

For Soda or juice Spills:
1. Use a paper towel to soak up the spill.
2. Place a damp towel on the spill to dilute the sugary liquid.
3. Blow dry with a blow dryer.

For Wax spills from Candle:
1. Hand pick the top layer of wax on the carpet.
2. Cover the wax with a paper towel.
3. Use iron to iron over the paper towel. Use low heat and make sure the paper towel does not burnt.
4. Repeat the step until wax totally come off from the carpet.  You will need to use different paper towel if the towel has wax on it already.

Hope this will help.  Enjoy your Thanksgiving!