Veggie Straws

Hello!  Do you remember the post I added so long ago, about the vegetable drink V8?  Well, a few days ago, I came up with a cool idea.  Many times, it is very hard to get children to eat right.  They only want to munch on the foods that are the most tasty, which are usually not that good for you.  But a lot of people’s suggestions are to get them to eat the healthy foods while still making it fun.  For example, on Tuesday, I realized that if you sip V8 with a Veggie Straw it is much more fun that just drinking it normally.  Although if you use one straw for too long, it sorta gets soggy.  But that’s okay, eat it, and get another one!  That is just one way to get a child to have a few servings of vegetables, and they’ll enjoy it, too!

These are the somewhat healthy chips that you can drink the amazingly healthy V8 with!...And this is the awesome drink!

...And this is the awesome drink!

India’s Fruits

Hello, everyone!  I’m sorry I haven’t been blogging for a while.  After getting back from vacation, I was so busy!  Also, I was getting over some terrible jet-lag that lasted for at least a week.  Anyway, I’ve finally gotten some time to do a little writing.  So this time, I will be following up on a previous post about fruits.  Remember that one?  I had told my readers that although some people say that you shouldn’t eat too many fruits, it is actually okay.  Fruits are very good for you!  I had told you that to make it more interesting, you should try new healthy snacks when ever you get the chance.  On my vacation, I was able to eat lots of fruits that you normally won’t find in America.  I was in India for the fourth time in my life, and as usual, it was amazing!  We stayed at my grandparents’ house, and there, we ate fruits like guava, melons, bananas, and much more.  So now, I will show you some of the fruits you find there so you will be inspired to try new ones…

This is a type of striped melon that you can find in India. As you can see, it is a small kind which can easily fit in your two hands.

This is what the melon looks like inside. It tastes just like any other melon, but better! The middle of the fruit is filled with many, many seeds that are edible, but my family and I usually just scoop them out.

As well as normal-sized bananas, you can also get 'sweet small bananas' as my brother calls them. These actualy taste sweeter than the usual kind. They also get brown faster. They come in huge bunches and are perfect for a little snack! They are found in America, as well.

You can get mangoes in many places, especially tropical areas such as India. They are one of my favorite fruits. They are sweet and juicy and I love them! However, they are seasonal fruits, only ripe in the summertime, and we didn't get any.

This is a guava. It is a wonderful fruit with a very interesting texture. It is firm but soft at the same time. The fruit is really cool because every part of it is edible: the green skin, the pink inside, and the tiny seeds that form a circle if you cut it open.

This is a chickoo. Although it looks like a kiwi, it tastes nothing like one! It is sweet, and has a big, black seed in the middle. It is delicious!

This is a custard apple. It is a green fruit with many bumps on it. In each bump, there is a small inedible black seed. The fruit is made up of little sweet pieces. Usually, people eat the fruit and spit out the seeds.

I hope that I convinced you to experiment with new fruits and I’ll try to write again soon.  Next is probably a recipe…

Black Bean Chili: Perfect For A Chilly Day!

The weather is slowly getting more cold and frosty.  These days, all I want to do is curl up in front of the fireplace like a cat, and read a good book while sipping extra-chocolatey hot chocolate.  But there is a better way to stay warm.  Last night, my family ate some delicious black bean chili and therefore we stayed nice and warm.  My mom found this recipe on the Internet a few years ago, and since then, it has remained one of our family-favorites.  Even my brother, who doesn’t like many dishes with vegetables, loved the chili.  This dish is very colorful and healthy.  Also, it doesn’t have any beef or any other meat!  Here is the recipe…

Black Bean Chili

This is the Black Bean Chili..

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 2 15 oz cans black beans, drained
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 tbs canola oil
• 1 onion
• 2 red bell peppers
• 1 serrano pepper
• 8 oz sliced mushrooms
• 6 roma tomatoes
• 1 cup corn
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbs chili powder
• 1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Chop the bell peppers, serrano, onions, and dice the tomatoes.
2. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Sautee the onion, bell peppers, serrano, mushrooms, tomatoes, and corn for 10 minutes or until the onions are translucent. 
3. Add the pepper, cumin, and chili powder.
4. After that, add the beans, chicken broth, and salt.
5. After it comes to a boil, simmer for 20 minutes on low.
6. Mash the soup with the back of a large spoon, to thicken.
7. Serve hot with cornbread or rice.

This dish is very healthy, and extremely comforting on a cold, snowy day.  It has many vegetables, and after you chop them up, the preparation time is pretty low.  Each serving has a whopping 10 grams of fiber and a very small amount of fat.  If you want it to be an even healthier dish, omit the cornbread and rice.  It tastes wonderful plain.  As usual, you won’t miss any meat because there are mushrooms.  Even the most picky eaters will love this dish.  I am so excited to have chili leftovers for lunch today!

Say No to Beef

I’m sure that all of you readers out there love beef.  Although I haven’t eaten it in for a long time now, I’ll have to admit that it does taste delicious.  But look again:  I just said, “I haven’t eaten it for a long time now.”  You shouldn’t eat it either.  There are a few things that people don’t realize about the meat that they should know.  Beef is actually very unhealthy.  In this post, I will be telling you the few and important reasons that I don’t consume beef.  Beef is very bad for you.

You should probably know that beef is a red meat.  Red meats are the most unhealthy type of meat, and should be strictly avoided in your diet.  One reason is that they have a large amount of fat.  They contain way too much saturated fat, which is the most terrible kind of fat.  They also have animal fat, which is also not a wise product to consume.   Finally, it can raise your cholesterol levels very, very high.  It can have many other bad things in it.

Furthermore, the effects from eating beef can be much more severe.  You might think that parts like saturated fat can at the most make you fat, but red meat can do much more.  All the cholesterol in the meat can clog up your arteries and lead to heart attacks.  It can also cause heart disease.  Beef has even been suspected to cause some types of cancer, such as colo-rectal cancer, which affects the colon and the rectum.  Beef can cause many awful things to happen to your body.

And last but not least, here is an extremely important reason.  Have you ever seen a live cow?  Now I’m not talking about cows in a faraway field in the distance, I mean a real live cow up close.  Well, I haven’t either, but I’ve seen pictures; let me show you one…

Here is a picture for all of you readers who have never seen a cow up close.

Just look at this cow’s big, brown eyes.  This is what you have been eating.  Cows are such beautiful creatures, and they didn’t do anything to you.  How would you feel if a cow just randomly came up to you, un-mercifully killed you, and then ate you for lunch?  I know they taste good, but you can find substitutes.  I’m sorry to say that although I feel bad for all those other animals that also are consumed by humans, but I guess it’s okay to eat a little chicken once in a while.  At least it’s more good for your body.  So try not to eat anymore beef, and you will surely be healthier.

Phenomenal Spinach & Mushroom Fettuccine

Hello!  First of all, I wanted to let you guys know that today (December 4th) is International Hug Day!  So be sure to deliver a big hug to someone you care about.  Sorry, that was way off topic.  Oh, well!   

Today, I’m going to share with you another recipe: Spinach & Mushroom Fettuccine.  It is a delicious pasta dish that gives you a big serving of vegetables and tons of fiber: 8 grams per serving!  It will quickly fill you up, and you will love it.  Last night, I ate it, and I was barely hungry for breakfast!  Anyway, here is the recipe for Phenomenal Spinach & Mushroom Fettuccine. 

This is a picture of the finished product…

Serves 6-8

 

Ingredients:

• 13.25 oz. whole grain fettuccine
• 16 oz. chopped frozen spinach, thawed
• 1 lemon
• 8 oz. sliced mushrooms
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 4 tbs butter
• 1/2 cup shredded/grated parmesan cheese
• 1 cup half-and-half
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cloves garlic

1. Grate 1/2 tsp lemon zest and squeeze 3 tsp lemon juice.
2. Cut butter into pieces.
3. In a blender or food processor, whir the spinach, garlic, lemon zest and juice, half-and-half, 1 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper until smooth.
4. Saute sliced mushrooms in oil for about 7 minutes.
5. Heat a large pot of water.
6. When the water comes to a boil, add the fettuccine.
7. Cook until the pasta is done.
8. Drain the pasta in a colander and put it back in the pot.
9. Stir in the spinach mixture, the mushrooms, and the cheese.
10. Toss until the pasta is coated.
11. Enjoy!

This pasta is a very good meal. It takes a very short time to make it, at the most 30 minutes.   As I said, it has a lot of fiber and it gives you at least a serving of veggies.  The original recipe had ham in it, but we substituted it with mushrooms to make it healthier.  With them, you won’t miss the meat.  You can also add green tobasco sauce if you want a little spice.  This pasta tastes wonderful.  I’m sure that you’ll love this dish!

Delicious Dal

In your diet, it is important to get beans and legumes.  They are filling and really good for you.  We Indians have a great way of getting this type of food many times a week.  We make a dish called dal, which is usually eaten with rice, or just plain.  It is made out of a type of lentil.  After cooking it, it has a soupy consistency, and it is wonderful.  A great thing about it is that there are many, many different types of dals, so you could eat it almost every day of the week and not get bored of it.  So today, I will be sharing with you Masoor Dal, a wonderfully flavorful dish.

Delicious Masoor Dal

This is what your meal should look like...

Serves 4-6

 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup red split lentils (masoor dal)
• 4 1/3 cups water
• 2 thin slices of unpeeled ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 3 tbs vegetable oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp ground coriander seeds
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tbs finely chopped fresh coriander
• 1/2 onion
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Wash lentils thoroughly.
2. Obtain a large pot.
3. Pour lentils and water into the pot.
4. Heat on stove.
5. When it comes to a boil, scoop off any weird material that emerges to the top.
6. Add the ginger and turmeric.
7. Stir the dal.
8. Cover the pot leaving it slightly open.
9. Cook on low heat for 1 1/2 hours or until the lentils aren’t hard anymore.
10. In the last 30 minutes, stir every few minutes so it doesn’t get burnt.
11. Add salt (about 1 tsp.)
12. Find the ginger with a spoon and take it out of the pot.
13. Obtain another frying pan.
14. Heat the vegetable oil on a medium flame.
15. When the oil is hot, add the cumin and onions.
16. Once they are fried, add the coriander and cayenne, and stir it up.
17. Pour the onion mixture into the dal. 
18. Stir the dal.
19. Right before serving the dal, add the fresh coriander.
20. Enjoy!

It might look like there are many steps, but this is an easy recipe.  However, it takes about 2 hours, so plan accordingly.  This dish is very healthy.  It has tons of protein and fiber, so it will fill you up quickly.  It also has less fat than other dals.  If you can’t find all these ingredients, you should look in a nearby Indian store.  You are sure to find them there.  Unlike the other recipes I have been sharing with you, this one wasn’t our own creation.  I should probably give credit to the recipe book I got it from: Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cooking.  If you want more dishes like this, you should look in this book.  But my mom did make some changes to the original recipe.  Anyway, I really hope that you’ll enjoy the delicious Masoor Dal!

Fruits

Fruits are both delicious and healthy.  But there might be some confusion out there about just how healthy they are.  A person that my mom knows once said that you shouldn’t eat too many fruits a day.  They have a lot of sugar, and too many can be bad for you.  However, this is not true.  Although fruits do have plenty of sugar, it isn’t bad.  This sugar is a good kind, and it is okay to consume, because it is easier for your body to break down than the other kinds.  So eat as many fruits as you want. 

Fruits!

But it is true that fruits aren’t as healthy as other things.  You can eat many fruits, but there is one food that is more good for you than this.  And this is vegetables.  Everyone agrees that you can have unlimited veggies.  Some even taste as good as some fruits.  But if you absolutely detest vegetables, then fruits are the best thing for you.  Eat more fruits!

Scrumptious Tandoori Chicken

In case you haven’t noticed, I love Indian food.  I come from an Indian family, and we are constantly having delicious, home-cooked Indian meals, or going out to eat at an Indian restaurant.  This is my favorite type of food.  I love it even more than Mexican food!  There are so many creamy dals, wonderful desserts, and much, much more.  Indian food is so awesome, and most of it is healthy, too!  That’s why I’m about to share a great chicken recipe with you.  It doesn’t take a long time to do the actual cooking, and you will definitely find it delicious.  So here is my dad’s recipe for Tandoori Chicken…..

 

This is my dad’s amazing dish!

Serves 6

 

Ingredients:

 

• 2 lbs chicken
• 16 oz plain non-fat yogurt
• 4 tbs Rajah Tandoori Masala
• 1 tps salt
• 2 tbs oil
• cilantro, lemon, green chillies, and cucumber slices to garnish

Directions:

1.  Obtain a large dish.
2. In it, mix the yogurt, masala, salt, and oil.
3. Cut the chicken into 2 inch pieces.
4. Add the pieces into the dish and thoroughly cover them with the marinating sauce that you just made.
5. Refrigerate for 8-12 hours (this is very important.)
6. Grill the chicken on a medium flame for a total of 30 minutes, and turn them over from time to time.
7. Serve warm with cucumber slices, lemon, cilantro, and chopped green chillies (if you’re brave enough!)

I’m sure that you will love this chicken recipe.  You can usually find tandoori masala where ever you do your grocery shopping, but if not, it is also in any Indian store.  The smaller the pieces are, the more flavorful and tender they will be.  I recommend doing all the preparations in the evening and refrigerating the chicken overnight.  This dish is both healthy and scrumptious.  I hope that you enjoy my dad’s chicken, and you realize how awesome Indian food is (if you haven’t already! 🙂

 

Wonderful Water!

Water is indeed a wonderful drink.  It is healthy, thirst-quenching, and easy to access.  It is one of the best beverages that you can get, and unlike some foods, it tastes nice and it’s good for you.  That’s why today, I’lll be writing about it, and hopefully you’ll be convinced to drink more of it…

There are many reasons why you should drink more water.  First of all, it goes perfectly with any meal you’re eating.  Whether it is dessert, salad, or even with another drink, water can quench any thirst you get.  It helps cool down your tongue after a spicy curry, or it could seem warm to a frozen, ice cream filled mouth.  Ice cold water tastes wonderfully refreshing after a jog, or a long tennis lesson.  Second, besides how good it tastes, water is also very healthy.  For all those soda-drinkers, if you replace every soft drink with a cup of water, you will be consuming much less sugar.  (This will help your teeth, too!)  Drinking more water cleanses the body and washes out all the harmful toxins and bad stuff.  When you are sick, it helps to keep you hydrated while rinsing out the germs that are making you ill.  Also, water can make you full.  If you’re hungry, but you are on a diet and know that you shouldn’t eat anything more, or if you don’t currently have any good snacks in your kitchen, drink a glass of water.  This will fill you up for a while.  Yes, water is great for you!

Aahhh, water....

Here are some ways to get water into your daily life.  You should always carry a water bottle with you.  Take random sips over the course of the day.  If you are on an airplane and you are offered a drink, choose water.  Drink a glass with every meal.  Eat more spicy food.  This will force you to drink more water.  Fill up a glass whenever you feel like it.  If you do these things, you will surely have more water that usual and be a much healthier person.

Good Snacks

Hello!  Have you ever had the experience in which you are super hungry, but you don’t feel like eating anything healthy?  Well, I know how it feels.  You really want to stick to your diet, but your tastebuds are telling a different story.  Then, you somehow convince yourself that it will be okay, you can eat just one piece of that cake, and nothing will happen.  Just one small piece.  And before you know it, you have eaten three slices, you’re feeling extremely guilty, and you are wondering how you convinced yourself to eat that.  I understand that some healthy foods don’t taste that good, but most of them are pretty good!  Here are some helpful tips to choose the perfect snack…

• First of all, nothing is more healthy than vegetables, if you like them.  If you don’t, then ignore this tip.
• The next best thing is fruits.  Fruits are so juicy, flavorful, and sweet!  Grab an easy-to-eat fruit like a banana or a clementine.
• Plain or lightly seasoned nuts are healthy and delicious, too.  Almonds are especially good for you.  Peanuts, pistachios, and any other nut is fine, as long as you eat in moderation.  Remember, nuts are high in fat, so only eat the serving size.
• Some cereals are good snacks as well.  Any kind of Cheerios is very heart-healthy. 
• But do not, I repeat, DO NOT snack on cereal bars.  Although they may seem healthy, they are loaded with sugar and weird ingredients. 
• The foods with the least ingredients and no preservatives are the best.  Have you seen those wacky ingredients on some foods?  They contain things like Yellow 45, or Blue Lake.  Who would want to eat that?
• Finally, anything in strict moderation is fine.  Some snacks aren’t good for you, but they aren’t that bad, either.  (Like Goldfish.  Yum!  Whenever we have a carton at my house, I get ‘addicted’.  That also happens with Animal Crackers.  Don’t be like me… 🙂 )

Thanks for reading my tips!