Low fat or full fat? Silver Sneakers' advice

 https://www.silversneakers.com/blog/should-you-ditch-low-fat-foods-for-good/? 

 I try to eat the real thing when available. Real milk. Real butter. But I didn't for years. My mom was all about margarine and 2% milk. Salad greens need full fat dressing, if you want dressing. (Not everyone does.) All that low-fat stuff and no calorie drinks just make one eat/drink more because they aren't satisfying. Not impressed with that plant-based, highly processed substitute for meat, either. If you have an ethical problem with eating animals, that's one thing, but if you think plant burgers will save the planet, you're kidding your self.

Something to try for the holidays

Broccoli Salad
4 cups broccoli florets cut small
1 cup green grapes cut in half
1 cup purple grapes cut in half
1 bunch green onions chopped.
8 strips bacon fried and crumbled
1 small package slivered almonds
1 cup celery
Dressing:
1 cup mayo
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
Mix until smooth and consistency of salad dressing. Add to salad when ready to eat

Build a salad

Although I'm not employed, I do volunteer. Here's how to take a salad to work. Put the dressing on the bottom of a plastic bowl that has a tight lid (some people use glass jars). Then add the heaviest, least absorbent vegetables, washed and sliced so you don't have to wrestle with it in view of everyone. Put chopped lettuce on that, then either the meat/fish, nuts or cheese. Seal and keep upright if possible. Shake briefly before opening. Today I used a vegetable salad mix with beets, carrots and kale. So I zapped that a few minutes in the microwave to make it more manageable--also makes the nutrients more available. Now I'm hungry.

Build a better salad

“Want to maximize the health benefits of your salads? Start with romaine lettuce for a salad guaranteed to be packed with nutrients. The vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and fiber found in romaine lettuce are especially good for the prevention or alleviation of many common health complaints. . . an excellent source of vitamin A, vitamin K, folate, and molybdenum. Romaine lettuce also is . . . a very good source of dietary fiber, four minerals (manganese, potassium, copper, and iron), and three vitamins (biotin, vitamin B1, and vitamin C). “

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=61

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrientprofile&dbid=42

Salad recipe

http://simplyhealthyhome.com/bacon-tomato-cucumber-salad/

Dinner was delicious

We had baked salmon with shallots (a type of small onion) and herbs (parsley and dill in lemon butter) and baked potatoes with a salad plate of fresh fruit, toasted pecans and mixed greens of kale, Swiss chard and baby spinach with onions and olives. We are celebrating the end of our colds—and Palm Sunday, of course.

Greek salad—is it worth the calories?

I enjoy the occasional Greek salad—usually at a restaurant with a sandwich.  They are pretty simple—salad greens, some feta cheese, beans, onions, and dressing.  But my, that dressing really adds up. About 400 calories—25 grams of fat. Is it worth it? Order dressing on the side, for sure.

For more information on nutrients.

Marinated Cucumbers, Onions, and Tomatoes

3 medium cucumbers, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 medium onion, sliced and separated into rings...
3 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon fresh coarse ground black pepper
1/4 cup oil
Combine ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving

Cucumbers are so plentiful this time of year—and your neighbors are probably looking for someone to take some off their hands!

Health benefits of Cucumber

• It is one of the very low calorie vegetables; provide just 15 calories per 100 g. It contains no saturated fats or cholesterol. Cucumber peel is a good source of dietary fiber that helps reduce constipation, and offer some protection against colon cancers by eliminating toxic compounds from the gut.

• It is a very good source of potassium, an important intracellular electrolyte. 100 g of cucumber provides 147 mg of potassium but only 2 mg of sodium. Potassium is a heart friendly electrolyte helps bring a reduction in total blood pressure and heart rates by countering effects of sodium.

• Cucumbers contains unique anti-oxidants in moderate ratios such as β-carotene and α-carotene, vitamin-C, vitamin-A, zea-xanthin and lutein. These compounds help act as protective scavengers against oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that play a role in aging and various disease processes. Their total antioxidant strength, measured in terms of oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC value), is 214 µmol TE/100 g.

• Cucumbers have mild diuretic property, which perhaps attributed to their free-water, and potassium and low sodium content. This helps in checking weight gain and high blood pressure.

• They surprisingly have a high amount of vitamin K, provides about 17 µg of this vitamin per 100 g. Vitamin-K has been found to have a potential role in bone strength by promoting osteotrophic (bone mass building) activity. It also has established role in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease patients by limiting neuronal damage in their brain. http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/cucumber.html

Spinach--nutrition power house

Spinach is World's Healthiest Foods website "Food of the Week." Among the World's Healthiest vegetables, spinach comes out at the top of our ranking list for nutrient-richness. Rich in vitamins and minerals, it is also concentrated in health-promoting phytonutrients, such as carotenoids (beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin) and flavonoids, that provide you with powerful antioxidant protection. And it only takes 1 minute to cook! Enjoy baby spinach in your favorite salads or make a salad made exclusively of baby spinach.

Wash it, put it in a sauce pan with a lid turn on the heat for a minute or two, then turn it off. Serve with a little butter and salt--delicious. Or use baby spinach raw in salads or in place of lettuce. Goes great with fruit and a sweetened dressing.

“Did you know that spinach is not only a rich source of vitamins and minerals, but researchers have identified carotenoids and at least 13 different flavonoid phytonutrients in spinach that act as powerful antioxidants? Antioxidants combat the free radicals that cause oxidative damage to both cells and DNA. When the researchers at the USDA Agricultural Research Service's Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University tested various fruits and vegetables for their antioxidant capabilities, spinach ranked second only to kale among the vegetables tested. The various flavonoids in spinach have been shown to possess anti-inflammatory, anti-mutagenic, and anti-carcinogenic properties, while its carotenoids, such as zeaxanthin and lutein, help fight prostate cancer and protect against eye diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration and cataracts. Since carotenoids are fat-soluble, they are not well absorbed unless fat is also consumed — a ! good reason to add extra flavor and nutrition to spinach by dressing it with extra virgin olive oil. When looking at spinach.s impressive nutritional profile, remember that it also contains many other health-promoting phytonutrients for which daily recommended intakes have not yet been provided, so they are not included in the chart.

“One recent food study has shown that you don't need to worry about the overall status of antioxidants in baby spinach that has been stored and displayed in this way. In this scientific study, the overall nutrient richness of the baby spinach when exposed to constant light was actually higher than the overall nutrient richness of baby spinach leaves kept in total darkness. The period of time in the study was 9 days, and the spinach was kept at 39°F/4°C (a temperature on the lower end of the scale for most home refrigerators). These findings are good news for anyone purchasing baby spinach in "ready-to-eat" containers [which I do]. “

669 Festive Christmas Salad

The family gathers here tomorrow for dinner and gifts. The table is set and most of the food is prepared. I'll pop the meat in the oven before we leave for church. I'm not using the "good" china, but rather my colorful blue and white color scheme with special Christmas plates and mugs.


Snowflake by Debbie Mumm

I'll be serving a festive red, white and green salad. In my recipe box it goes by the name, "Broccoli Salad," but its colors are so seasonal I've renamed it. I think the original (before my revisions) came from the premiere issue of Taste of Home.

1 bunch broccoli, separated into florets
1 head cauliflower, separated into florets
8 bacon strips, fried and crumbled
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 dry pint grape tomatoes
2 hard-cooked eggs, sliced
1 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
1/3 cup sugar (I use Splenda)
2 tablespoons vinegar

In a large salad bowl, combine broccoli, cauliflower, bacon, onion, tomatoes and eggs; set aside. In another bowl, combine mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar; mix until smooth. Just before service, pour dressing over salad and toss. Yield: 6-8 servings.

Tips: Amounts are quite flexible. Use any amount of broccoli and cauliflower you have on hand. Doesn't seem to make much difference--same with bacon. I don't use the onion. Added a little crisp celery for some extra. I don't use that much sugar/Splenda, but doesn't seem to change flavor much. Serve in a clear glass bowl to show off the pretty colors of the season. And oh yes, I use a small red bowl of my mother's to mix the dressing--that's just an extra touch for memories.