Cauliflower Can Be Delicious As Well As Fat Free!

Did you know that cauliflower is regarded as a 'free food'?  It's one of the few foods that can be eaten in unlimited quantities when you're trying to lose weight or feel full.  Cauliflower is not starchy and contains the phytonutrient  sulforaphane (a cancer fighter!), folate and Vitamin C.  Most folks think of cauliflower raw with dip or steamed or just baked with cheese.  But there are so many other ways to have your cauliflower and like it too!  Here's how....

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day: 
Creamed Cauliflower with Grilled Chilean Sea Bass and Spicy French Beans
Ingredients:
1 small head cauliflower.  Remove stem and chop roughly.
1/2 teaspoon Mrs. Dash seasoning for cauliflower
1/2 teaspoon Mrs. Dash seasoning for fish
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon red pepper powder
1/4 cup 2% milk
1 teaspoon French sweet butter or Italian sheep's butter
Dash of seasalt to taste
Chilean Sea Bass fillet (8oz).  This will give 2 portions.
8 oz or more of French green beans (another 'free' food!).

Directions:
Steam boil or microwave cauliflower until soft.  Drain.  Add Mrs. Dash, nutmeg, red pepper powder, milk, butter into a blender or hand mash until soft and creamy.  Keep warm.
Spray both sides of fish. Either grill in a pan, in the oven or in your George Foreman grill until cooked to your liking.  While  the fish is grilling, spray a little Pam to coat a frying pan.  Toss mesquite rub powder in with beans and quickly toss in pan until tender.

Presentation:
Spoon out a 1/2 cup worth of the cauliflower in the center of the plate.  Gently lay a 4oz portion of the fish on top of the caulflower.  Add the spicy beans to the plate.  Not only does this dish taste delicious; it's low cal, low fat and looks like it's coming from the kitchen of a 5 start restaurant!
Bon Appetit!

Eating Out Without Overeating

During the holiday season, dining out can be extremely challenging; especially if you are salt sensitive like myself.  Here are some of the traps and pitfalls you might want to be conscious of when planning to attend all those holiday dinners and parties within the next 6 weeks:

Over-sized portions can really do you in.  Most restaurants' idea of an individual portion is actually enough food for three adults!  So, be smart and eat most of the green stuff on the plate and only 1/3 of the protein and white stuff.  Take a doggie bag home.  You can have a hot lunch for two days.  This will allow you to eat well and cheap!
Restaurant food seems to be tastier than what most folks cook at home. So, why not do what me and my companion do (for those fabulous places that do cook better than I can!)...split 2 appetizers between you and order one entree and share it.  You'd be surprised how full you are walking away from the table and you've tried 3 dishes to boot!
Being starving-hungry when you arrive to a restaurant is like the kiss of death. You'll order far more than you really need, you'll devour the bread basket and in my case, go for what is on the 'no no' salt list and suffer for it later on in the evening.  Even if you have to grab a quick piece of fruit or a smudge of peanutbutter on a cracker or rice cake, or a handful of nuts in your pocket for the cab ride before you go out for the evening...do it!  You won't be starved by the time you arrive to the restaurant and you will most likely make better food choices.
Once in a while, I'll just order a nice salad and stave off the entree order until I'm finished with my salad.  At times, I'll just order a lite appetizer instead of a main course.
Last but not least....the overweight people who love 'safety in numbers'.  These are the folks that pick and poke at their food during the first two courses and tell everyone at the table about their diets.  Then, when the dessert menu arrives, they try to talk everyone else at the table into ordering 'desserts to share', so they can have their extra 900 calories in sugar and fat.  Beware of these eaters...there's a reason why they never lose weight and cajoling you into group participation at dessert time only makes them fatter and kills all the planning and hard work you've done up to this point.

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  Hey...GIVE ME A TIP FOR ONCE!  What works for you?  Please share with all of us your own healthy tips when dining out!

What works for you?

It's The Simple Things That Make a Difference

Wow!  What a fun weekend I had!  Swam a mile, made 3 pars on the golf course  (the other 15 holes we're not going to talk about), played tennis, cooked lunch for a boatload of people on the grill, went on an awesomely beautiful motorcycle ride, swam some more....oh yeah - and ate some really super cool meals!  Sounds like it was a big deal, but it really was the sum of many small events and the great company that made for a fabulous weekend.

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  Let's continue to appreciate those micro moments in life that make the entire picture so wonderful.  Whatever it was over your holiday weekend that you remember best with a smile, keep it in the front of your head and think of those memories often.  It's a child's smile, a dog chasing its tail, the sun setting behind the clouds, a kiss to remember....all those magical moments are what makes life beautiful.  Have a great week...get back with your healthy program and stay tuned for more healthy tips!