Healthy Living, and recipes, too!

Now that I have more free time, I think it is time to start slimming down. In the past two years, as I was teaching, I let myself go. The extra pudge has really been bothering me over the past few months, but I've been so busy (or making excuses about being so busy) that I haven't done anything. So, now is the time to get back to healthy eating and exercise habits. New job, new home, new healthy habits.

I've been trying to keep track of what I eat on myfooddiary.com and today I just joined Spark People with the Knit Girls over at Ravelry. I think that figuring out if I am eating well, and where I can cut calories is a good idea. So is exercising.

I can't exercise tonight because I have a ridiculous crick in my neck and can't turn my head to the left. And because moving hurts. But here are two of my very own veggie-tastic recipes with nutritional information. I had the bean salad for lunch with some fruit and tonight I'm making the mushroom stroganoff.

White Bean Salad
2 cans canelli beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup red onion, diced (about 1/2 a med. onion)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 cup fresh tomato, diced
2 tbl fresh dill, snipped into small pieces
2 tbl balsamic vinaigrette (I like Newman's Own Light)

Mix all ingredients together. Makes 4 servings of about one cup each.

Nutritional Information*
Calories = 249
Fat = 6.4 g
Sat. Fat = 2.2 g
Cholesterol = 12 mg
Sodium = 388 mg
Carb = 35.4 g
Fiber = 9.8 g
Sugar = 2 g
Protein = 14.5 g
Vit A = 9%
Vit C = 23%
Calcium = 13%
Iron = 21%


Mushroom Stroganoff
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 med onion, sliced
3 cups mushrooms (I like cremini or portobello), cut into chunks
1 tbl + 1 tsp butter
1 tbl flour
5 oz. red wine
1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup sour cream

1. Saute the onion in 1 tsp butter until it is translucent. Add the garlic and mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms give up most of their liquid and the onions begin to caramelize. Remove from pan and set aside.

2. Melt the tablespoon of butter and add the flour to create a quick roux. Stir constantly until the roux is a deep brown color, be careful that it doesn't burn. Add the vegetable broth slowly, stirring constantly to keep the flour from forming lumps. Add the red wine and the vegetables. Simmer until the sauce is the consistency of gravy. Remove from heat. Stir in the sour cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Serve over egg noodles. Garnish with parsley if you wish.

Nutritional Information (for Mushroom Sauce only, not noodles)*
Calories = 181
Fat = 10.8
Sat. Fat = 6
Cholesterol = 24 mg
Sodium = 183 mg
Carb = 13 g
Fiber = 2.7 g
Sugar = 4.7 g
Protein = 3.5 g
Vit A = 6%
Vit C = 10%
Calcium = 6%
Iron = 10 %

*The nutritional information is from when I entered it on an online program. Since I don't know exactly how it calculates the data, I don't know how trustworthy the nutritional information is, but I guess you could always use it as a general guide.