Tuna salad surprise

You will love this unique way of preparing a tuna salad with no mayonnaise. It's perfect for a light dinner or lunch and provides an excellent—106% of the daily value—for those hard to find omega-3 fatty acids. Enjoy!

Prep and Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
2 6 ½ oz cans of light tuna, drained
1/4 cup finely diced celery
3 TBS chopped walnuts
3 TBS chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup finely minced onion
salt and black pepper to taste
1 medium head romaine lettuce, chopped
1 small tomato, chopped, seeds and excess pulp removed

Dressing
3 medium cloves garlic, pressed
1 TBS prepared Dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
4 TBS fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
4 oz silken tofu
1/2 tsp dried Italian herbs
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
a little water to thin if necessary


Directions:
Mince onions and press garlic and let sit for 5-10 minutes to bring out their health-promoting benefits.
Blend dressing ingredients in blender adding oil a little at a time at end (to incorporate). Blend well to make sure sunflower seeds are ground.
Mix tuna, celery, walnuts, parsley, onion, salt, and pepper.
Mix desired amount of dressing with tuna mixture.
Serve on bed of chopped romaine lettuce with chopped tomato.
Serves 2

Healthy Cooking Tips:

Blend the dressing long enough to completely grind the sunflower seeds for a smooth texture.

Energizing Oatmeal

This is a delicious complete breakfast and a perfect way to start your day!Prep and Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
2 cups water
sea salt to taste
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 sliced almonds
1 cup soymilk or skim milk
1 TBS blackstrap molasses
Directions:

Bring the water and salt to a boil in a saucepan, then turn the heat to low and add the oats.
Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly so that the oatmeal will not clump together. Add cinnamon, raisins and almonds, stir, cover the pan and turn off heat. Let sit for 5 minutes. Serve with milk and sweetener.
Serves 2
Healthy Cooking Tips:

If you are using prepackaged oats, it is best to follow the directions on the package.

Vegetarian Stir Fry

I love recipes that use whatever I have available in my refrigerator and this one is great for that. So while we have recommended particular vegetables for this dish, you can feel free to use whatever you may have on hand. Stir-fry is a wonderful way to enjoy a wider variety of nutrients than usual (because of the variety of vegetables included) allowing for greater synergistic interaction of nutrients— the path towards optimal health.

Prep and Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
1 medium onion cut in half and sliced medium thick
1 TBS vegetable broth
4 medium cloves garlic, pressed
1 TBS minced fresh ginger
1 red bell pepper cut into ½ inch pieces
1 cup sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms, (remove stems)
2 cups sliced green cabbage
5 oz extra firm tofu cut into ½ inch cubes
2 TBS soy sauce
1 TBS rice vinegar
2 TBS chopped fresh cilantro
1 TBS sesame seeds
salt and white pepper to taste

Directions:

Slice onions and press garlic and let sit for 5 minutes to bring out their health-promoting properties.
Prepare rest of vegetables.
Heat 1 TBS broth in a stainless steel wok or 12 inch skillet. Healthy Stir-Fry onion for about 2 minutes in broth over medium high heat stirring constantly.
Add red pepper, mushrooms, and cabbage. Continue to stir-fry for another 2 minutes. Add garlic, ginger and continue to cook stirring for another 2-3 minutes.
Add rest of ingredients and cook for another 2 minutes. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Serves 4

Serving Suggestion: Serve with Seaweed Rice
Healthy Cooking Tips:

Make sure you slice cabbage thin, so you can cook it quickly. If over cooked it will release its water and dilute the flavor of your dish. By slicing it thin, you can cook it for just a couple of minutes so it doesn't taste raw without this happening.

Healthier Lifestyle Green Tea

The phytonutrients found in green tea help combat free radicals and provide a wide variety of health protective benefits.

Prep and Cook Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:
green tea
1 tsp lemon juice

Healthy Cooking Tips:

Green tea is not only delicious but is renowned for its health-promoting properties. These have been linked to hits high concentration of catechin phytonutrients, which have a wide variety of protetive benefits, many related to their potent ability to fight free radicals. Adding 1 tsp lemon juice per cup of green tea not only gives it a refreshing taste but additional health benefits; it is both cleansing and energizing.

Research on the protective value of antioxidant catechins has found that less than 20% survive digestion. But by adding the lemon juice you can absorb 13 times more of the catechins due to the high concentration of vitamin C in the lemon juice. The catechins in ready-to-drink bottles of green tea have been found to be ineffective.

If you're senaitive to caffeine, you can drink decaffeinated green tea.

A Good Testament

Tests reveal that lowering your cholesterol level even as little as 15 percent will result in lowering your heart risk by 30 percent . The facts prove that if you take one step to improving your cholesterol level, the benefits will be double what you did. That's a big return on a small investment!

If you're overweight, losing weight can raise your HDLs by 5 to 6 point. Moderate regular exercise, at least three times a week, will raise HDLs. For post menopausal women, estrogen supplements can raise HDL 4 to 5 points.

Although it is the smallest seed of all, it becomes the largest plant in the garden. Begin today to plant the seed of God's Word into your heart. As you do, you will leap double returns on your efforts and eternal rewards for you soul. Allow His Word to work in you today!

Simple Ways

How many grams of fat do you need each day? Women need between 20 and 40 grams, and men need 30 to 60 grams. Most people, however, eat at least twice that much fat! How can you lower your fat intake? Here are a few simple ways.

Eliminate two of the main sources of fat calories in our diets, cheese and mayonnaise. This will also help reduce your cholesterol levels. Eliminate fast food items from your diet. These are loaded with fat. Eat simple, low-fat meals. Breakfast would include fruit, cereal, skim milk. A good lunch: water packed tuna and whole grain bread. Supper may consist of fish or some other than meat, such as turkey or chicken, vegetables, potato, rice, or pasta to establish new eating habits. That's the sign of a prudent person.

Pumping Jean

When you pump iron, your muscles grow with gratitude. But it may be your heart that really owes you a special thanks for lifting weights. New research says that strength training like lifting weights lower LDL cholesterol.

The researchers had one group of middle aged ladies lift weight for one hour, three times a week, for five months. Another group continued their exercise program but did not lift any weights. Cholesterol tests before and after the five-month period showed that the women who lifted weights had significant drops in both total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. the group that did not lift weights had much smaller declines in cholesterol readings.

Researchers think there is a potential for reducing heart disease risk through resistance training. The weightlifters lowered their body fat while boosting their fat free muscle. If you have access to a gym, include some weightlifting exercise in your workout. The repetitions will improve your cholesterol reading.

Encourage One Another

Part of abundant living involves associating with other people. In fact, social reinforcement is necessary, even crucial, to living. Dieting is not! When other people reinforce you, you feel better about yourself and are most likely to succeed in any endeavor you undertake, including losing weight. If you isolate yourself, there is no chance for reinforcement.

That's why you especially need the fellowship of others. You need their encouragement, and they need yours. Don't get out of the habit of going to church just because you are overweight or on a diet or feel you have nothing attractive to wear. Ask God to give you the courage to obey His Word and go to church. The blessings you receive and are able to give others will strengthen and encourage you to become the person God created you to be.