High protein food sources

I'm a big fan of cooking light. The magazine has tons of recipes and articles that help and motivate me for healthy living and healthy eating.

I ran across an article on Cooking Light on daily protein needs to build muscle and share it here.

Six Weeks till Summer: Eat Breakfast Every Day

Make a healthy breakfast the start of your day

Breakfast in Weight Management 

Breakfast is probably the most important meal of the day. There are a a number of good reasons to resist the urge to skip breakfast especially if you're on a path to lose weight and be healthier. 

Eating food at the start of the day fuels up the body and reduces hunger later in the day. Without breakfast, a large appetite increases the risk for over-eating or picking less healthy, higher calorie choices. 

Eating breakfast keep metabolic rate and energy up. More energy earlier in the day means more activity and in the long run, more calories burned. 

Motivation to eat healthy starts early in the day. Take some time to blow up past ideas of breakfast and try some new choices. I've written before about vegetables at breakfast as a way to start the day healthy. 

Eating breakfast is the healthy habit for May in Cooking Light. The Cooking Light resource center for 12 healthy habits has more information, recipes, and tips to help convert you to a breakfast eater. 

Classic Restuarant Fare Made Healthy

I am a big fan of the magazine Cooking Light. This month's issue has a great feature on lightened option for classic restaurant dishes such as lasagna.

I share the link for you pleasure and hopeful inspiration.

Whole Grain Challenge

12 Healthy Habits 

I've written before about Cooking Light's 12 healthy habits for the year. This month's habit is making whole grains part of your diet.

Whole grains have many potential health benefits such as

• Assisting in management of weight 
• Positive effects on cholesterol levels and heart disease risk 
• Positive effects on blood sugars and diabetes risk 

This month's challenge is to get three servings of whole grains per day into the diet. 

Try a serving of whole grain oatmeal this month

What is a Serving of Whole Grains

• 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice 
• 1/2 cup of whole grain hot cereal such as oatmeal 
• 1/2 cup of cooked whole wheat pasta 
• 1 slice of whole grain bread 
• 1 cup of whole grain breakfast cereal 

What about Whole Grain Foods 

Figuring out whether a food is whole grain or not can sometimes be a challenge. A quick way to ballpark if a food choice is good on the whole grain benefit is to see how close to the top a whole wheat ingredient is listed - it should be in the top 5. Also, looking for the whole grain label on the package is a quick way to see if you are on the right track. 

16 grams of whole grain in a good is the bar set to qualify as a whole grain source. 

Final Advice 

It is important to remember that whole grain servings are small - 1/2 cup for the pastas. So, portion control must be kept in mind to avoid excess calorie trap. 

Vegetarian sandwich twist

I ran across an intriguing recipe while searching the Cooking Light website for vegetarian options.

Packing your own lunch is both healthy and economical. Yet, the same old turkey or ham sandwich can be boring after a week or so. I've tried dressing up these sandwiches with different greens such as spinach or arugula. I've used different condiments like spicy mustard, hummus, or pesto. Yet, sometimes I still want something different.

Vegetarian sandwiches have been fairly unsatisfying for me in the past. Bread with a bunch of green stuff just isn't tasty. Mushroom or eggplant is a bit more substantial in bread but can be soggy or slimy.

I plan to try this white beans, pesto, and roasted red peppers sandwich recipe. I think it will fit the bill for healthy, vegetarian, and most importantly interesting.

Healthy Breakfast to start the day off

Cooking Light Breakfast Parfait 

Eating breakfast is a very important part of a game plan for better health. Eating breakfast has a number of benefits including:

• Energy to start the day 
• Control of hunger later in the day
• Maintaining metabolic rate 

Eighty percent of people who kept weight off long term reported eating breakfast. With that kind of data, why wouldn't you eat breakfast? 

However, the breakfast that you choose is very important. Here are a few recipes for a healthy breakfast start for the day courtesy of Cooking Light. 

A little cooking effort on your part can have big payouts. 

Chicken Soup for a Cold Weekend

Healthy Chicken Soup for a Cold Weekend

Soup can be a great, healthy meal for singles or families. Besides warming you up on an especially cold winter day, left-over soup stretches into a quick additional meal for later in the week.

I'll be cooking up a batch of quick chicken soup later this afternoon. I'm afraid that I don't have the specific nutrition breakdown per bowl, but it is an overall healthy dish. It will serve 4-6 people an average size bowl of soup. The addition of alphabet pasta adds interest for my family and will for yours as well. I use the microwave to par-cook the pasta and save prep time.

My Quick Alphabet Chicken Soup 

1 cooked rotisserie chicken
2 cups of chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped bell peppers
2 teaspoons minced garlic (I use the prepared garlic such as Spice World brand)
1/2 - 2/3 of cup of dried alphabet letter shaped pasta
48-64 oz of low-fat chicken stock (1 1/2 to 2 of the large size chicken stock containers)
1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper

Strip the rotisserie chicken and remove all the skin and fat. Slice the meat (both light and dark) into small bites. Place sliced chicken into bowl
Slice raw vegetables and place into bowl.

Put pasta in a microwave safe container and cover with about 2-3 inches of extra water
Microwave pasta on high power for 10 minutes. Check pasta for softness and cook further to desired softness.

Drain pasta in a colander.

Add olive oil to soup pot under medium-high heat
Add vegetables and garlic to olive oil
Saute vegetables until they become soft
Add one 32 oz container of chicken stock to vegetables
Add chicken and pasta to soup
Add additional chicken stock to desired amount - thicker vs thinner soup
Bring mixture to boil for 5-10 minutes
Season with salt and pepper to taste
Reduce heat to simmer and serve when ready

Here is a bonus for 25 comforting chicken soup recipes courtesy of Cooking Light.

Power of the portion

I am a big fan of Cooking Light. The 12 healthy habit program for the year has been very inspirational.

The last two habits of the year are particularly important when facing the temptation that the holiday season brings.

November's healthy habit is portion control. I've linked to 10 top secrets on portion control. It is a great article that I hope you enjoy.

Troubling turkey preparation

Thanksgiving is less than a week away. The main challenges surrounding this fun, family time include:

Planning the meal 

Cooking the meal

Eating healthy 

The main menu item for most Thanksgiving meals is turkey.

Turkey can be prepared so many ways including traditional roasting, deep frying, smoking, or grilling.

Preparing turkey has issues beyond cooking the perfect bird. The time, expense as well as dealing with leftovers are all issues surrounding the Thanksgiving main course.

A quick and easy solution to these challenges is the use of turkey cutlets. Cutlets are perfect for portion size and ease of preparation. Grilling cutlets with simple seasoning is a fast way to quickly get the main course on the table. The turkey cutlet recipe above courtesy of Cooking Light shows another way to dress up the cutlet into a delicious, elegant meal in under 30 minutes.

Be a Childish Eater for the Holidays

Cooking Light's Twelve Healthy Habits for 2011 inspires readers every month. One recent in particular assumes new relevance with the approach of Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

Five Healthy Habits We Can Learn from Kids offered some very practical tips.


1. Live an Active Life
2. Listen to Your Tummy
3. Enjoy Every Bite
4. Fun Takes Precedence over Food
5. Be a Finicky Eater

I think the final tip is especially relevant in this Holiday Season. The weeks spanning from Halloween through New Year's challenge everyone dedicated to eating healthy and living actively. The tip comes especially in handy when treats inevitably arrive in the office in the next few months. Here are three quick practical, personal takes on energizing this simple tip. 

• Eat only what you know you like  
• Take a small taste of unknown treats
• Spit out (politely) or put aside anything you try and don't like

All manner of food and treats will make their appearance in public, office, and home during these next weeks. Use this tip and you will gain the edge when facing healthy eating challenges.

Eat Your Vegetables

Green Beans with Honey-Mustard Glaze

Sugars and calories can quickly sneak their way into the diet. Many foods are fortified with high fructose corn syrup which is questioned as a culprit in weight gain.  Compared to many other foods, most vegetables and fruits have less calories and sugars per serving. An obesity research study published in 2001 showed multiple benefits in families targeted to increased fruits and vegetables in their diet.
Obesity prevention begins in the home and includes the entire family. However, healthy eating can be a struggle in children who are most at need for  establishing early healthy eating.

Here are some quick tips and recipes courtesy of Cooking Light to get more healthy vegetables into family meals. 

Eating well 12 months of the year

Healthy eating is a challenge is the busy life most of us lead. However, it is a necessity for everyone for optimum health. For those of us with weight to lose, it is absolutely essential. Even the most active people will not lose weight if calories and food content are not healthy and balanced.






 Healthy cooking can be a challenge on many levels such as

• Poor support from family
• Lack of time for cooking
• Tight finances 
• Lack of recipes

One of the greatest resources for me has been the Cooking Light magazine. The magazine not only has abundant recipes but also has many health articles including work-out programs.

Cooking Light launched the 12 healthy habits program this year. This month's healthy habit is eating more fish. Fish is a great source of protein and most fish are very light on calories.

Please check out the program and check out my favorite fish recipe for the month, Sauteed Tilapia with Honey Scallion Dressing.