Heathly Fettucine Alfredo

So it is interesting to me the kinds of things that people get stuck in their heads about items that are ok to eat and not ok. I think that almost anything is ok to eat but in moderation.

When it comes to cream sauces, I can see why people have such a hard time with this. It is tricky to come up with a way to have creamy sauces that aren't made with heavy cream or something really dense and fattening. Which means if you did make a habit of indulging in this or have cravings for similar creamy items, this hurdle would become quite a stumbling block.

This brings up the usage of plain yogurt. Over the last year I have made a point to use yogurt as a substitute in a lot of different recipes. Basically anytime the tendancy would be to reach for sour cream I would use yogurt. I tested this out on my husband and his friends, instead of putting sour cream with nachos I used yogurt... and you know what? Nobody ever noticed.

Yogurt has many uses and can be a substitute for many things. You can mix it with some fruit and bran for a healthy breakfast option, you can use it as a condiment, you can substitute it for eggs when baking bread or desserts.. and well if you aren't afraid to try, it works as a great facial mask because it not only softens your skin but its probiotic makeup can do wonders to your skins surface.

This Heathly Fettucine Alfredo recipe combines eggplant, mushroom and yogurt to create a smooth creamy sauce that you could use over a veggie pasta shown in the video link that I used or try this as a sauce for regular pasta. Even if you keep the carbs at least you are cutting down the amount of fat in your dish.

For this recipe I used:

1 Large eggplant
1/4 Large sweet onion
10 White button mushrooms
2 cups of water
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1 Clove of garlic
2 Large pinches of basil
3-4 Zucchini

Sauce:
Cut up half the eggplant into cubes and add it, 1/4 sweet onion and 5 chopped mushrooms into a pot with 2 cups of water. Simmer these together until soft and then puree. While reducing add salt, pepper, garlic and basil. Once this has reduced to being very thick Add a cup of yogurt and mix thoroughly.

Zucchini Pasta:
Using a veggie peeler, peel Zucchini's into noddles as wide as you prefer. Steam the zucchini noodles for 3-5 min being very careful not to oversteam.

Other Grilled Veggies:
Optionally, slice up the remainding eggplant and the rest of the mushrooms and rub them with olive oil, salt and pepper. Throw these on the grill long enough for these to cook all the way through. These can be used to top off your pasta dish and are great for presentation.


If you would like to watch a video of how I put this all together please click this link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeNKI7OtkFU

5 Minute Pea Soup

Winter in Canada makes me very thankful for the idea of soup. It is so wonderful to have something nice and hot, it can make my whole day.

For lunch today I made Pea Soup and eventhough it was made from scratch it only took me about the same amount of time as opening a can but there is no comparison to making something out of fresh ingredients over something that came from a can or powder.

Many foods can be made into soup and unlike cooking in a manner that releases all of the nutrients from a food such as boiling, pureeing into a soup keeps all of the essential components still in the food.

Still my favorite part is the comforting warmth and aroma that usually accompanies a nice bowl of soup.

If you'd like to see how I made this click on this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYOPdxNuHnk

Yum!!

Nature's pasta

Tonight I made a delicious and healthy gluten free pasta from scratch. It was so easy, but the best part of eating this besides the incredible taste and the wonderful aroma is that it is lacking just about everything that makes pasta such a heavy meal.

The use of the fresh, sweet grape tomatoes, garlic and red onion combine together into a savoury sauce and compliments the crab and shrimp that I chose to use. I like to include protein into meals but the advantage to seafood is that you get plenty of taste and a fraction of the fat.

Even better then that is that today, the next morning I don't have that carb overload feeling that for me seems to coincide with eating high carb, high fat foods. I love using spaghetti squash because it is SOOOOO easy. All it took was baking it for 45 min and out you scoop these wonderful squash strings. Truly remarkable
what nature has to offer.

Keep doing your research. It is possible to eat savoury, rich foods that are healthy for you, you just have to be open to new tastes and slightly different ways of doing things.

Always remember that only by cooking these things yourself are you able to ensure the quality of the food, and what has been used to make it. The simpler the better!! If you want to eat healthy, make it yourself!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_SuzXvr_XU Click on this link to see a video on how I made this!!

Healthy Ice Cream (YIPEE!!!)

Hi Everyone, I have put a recipe together for an ice cream substitute. I love digging to find great tasting healthy foods that work as ample substitutes for foods that are considered "unhealthy". This dessert features frozen bananas as the bulk for the ice cream. Take a look at the link below to find out how to put this delicious dish together!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK4XeyGGlYQ

Healthy Cookies

Hi Guys, I hope everyone is doing well after New Years and that if you have a New Years resolution to loose weight that you are still holding stong. I am putting together some recipies to help you and I hope that you will find them useful.

This is a great recipe if you are craving the sweets but are really trying hard to avoid those tempting foods that will lead you away from your goals.

If you are interested in watching how I made these click on this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ODDPkFvoWM