Quinoa Curry with Peas and Pine Nuts

How to Travel and Stay on Track with Your Diet
Here are some tips so you'll come home as slim as when you left. Enjoy eating the food when you're away. After all one of the reasons for going to a foreign destination is to sample the local cuisine. Whether you're going across the globe or to the next state the same tips apply.

• Treat yourself to one or two desserts on your trip, and leave off the rest.
• For breakfast look for low sugar cold cereal and skim milk in the hotel dining room. Oatmeal is always a good choice, but leave off the sugar and raisins. Sweeten the oatmeal with Splenda and ask the server if they can bring you cinnamon to stir into your oatmeal.
• I bring whole grain crackers and unsalted nuts from home when I travel, and when I'm away I snack on fruit and crackers.
  
• When you have free time get some exercise and take a walk.
• Don't overeat on trips. You don't want to be sick while you're away.

Going to Parties Without Gaining an Ounce: Here's How.
Remember when I told you that you'll have to live in the world and deal all kinds of situations? There is a way you can go to parties and get through the holiday season without gaining weight, but YOU HAVE TO HAVE A PLAN.

• Never go to a party hungry. Before you get dressed have a healthy snack so you're not starving when you get to the party. Have something substantial enough to take the edge off your appetite.
  
• Before going through the food line at the party check out the food and decide what you are going to eat. Be very selective about it. Boiled shrimp with a little cocktail sauce, roast beef and a big helping of raw veggies without the dip are good choices.
  
• Go for the fresh fruit. If you're maintaining your weight then have one dessert, but limit it to a once a week treat.
• Watch the drinking; alcohol contains a lot of sugar. Have one glass of dry red wine.
• After you go through the food line then walk away from the table.
• Enjoy socializing with people and smile when people tell you how fabulous you look.

The following recipe is from my upcoming book Eating Your Way To Healthy Living.

Quinoa Curry with Peas and Pine Nuts
My visit to Ecuador inspired me to develop this recipe when I got home. They served quinoa soup that was so delicious. You should be able to find achiote powder in the grocery where the Hispanic seasonings are displayed. If you can't find it then use paprika instead. This quick and easy dish is perfect for a vegetarian dinner.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 cup quinoa well rinsed in a fine sieve
• 1 teaspoon achiote powder. Use paprika if you can't find achiote powder.
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, crushed
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 2 zucchini, cut into slices
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 bunch scallions, including a little of the green stalks, sliced
• 1/2 cup unsalted pine nuts, toasted
• handful fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
• 1 cup low sodium vegetable broth

Please follow these directions.

1. Spread out the pine nuts on a tray and bake in a toaster oven on 325 degrees for 5 minutes or until lightly toasted. Watch carefully so they don't burn.
   
2. Heat the olive oil in a pot and cook the chopped onion and garlic in it for a few minutes until the onion is tender.
   
3. Add in the quinoa, 1/2 teaspoon curry powder and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes while stirring often. Add 2 cups water, bring to a boil, and turn the heat down to low.
4. Cover the pot and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. After the quinoa has cooked for 10 minutes add the zucchini to the pot.
   
5. Cover and cook for 5 minutes more. The zucchini should be crisp at this point.
   
6. Add the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons of the curry powder, 1 teaspoon achiote powder, 1/2 cup water, vegetable broth, peas, scallions and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and cook covered over low heat for 5-7 minutes until the peas are cooked through.
7. Before serving add in the pine nuts and cilantro and stir. Spoon into bowls to eat.
   

Serves 4.

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Pasta Vegetable Casserole

Eating fats don't make you fat, but the wrong fats will make you sick. It's not how much fat you eat but the type of fat that counts. Fats are calorie dense, and although you can't indulge in a high fat diet if you want to lose weight, a moderate amount of healthy fats are essential for your health. The Good Fats: Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are the fats you should be eating, and you get these kinds of fats from nuts, seeds, fish and vegetables. Polyunsaturated fats contain essential fats that are hugely important to your health, but your body can't make these fats. Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are only found in foods. These essential fats improve your cholesterol profile, lower triglycerides and reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease. For cooking olive oil and canola oil are healthy fats that work well. I like to use Smart Balance Buttery Spread for baking because it has no trans fats and it has a good taste. Be sure to use the regular version and not the light though. When you're baking and a recipe calls for butter use Smart Balance instead.
The Bad Fats: We all love ice cream, but eating a diet rich in saturated fat raises low density lipoprotein, or the bad cholesterol. Stay away from saturated fats that are found in meats, butter and ice cream, and avoid trans fats which are found in most margarines, meats, packaged foods and fast foods. Most bakery goods use trans fats.
Yes you can have coffee and dry red wine with this eating plan and still lose weight. Just limit yourself to one cup of coffee a day, and leave off the sugar. Use splenda if you want it sweet, and instead of cream use skim milk in your coffee. You can hae one glass of dry red wine a day if you want. It's important for you to enjoy eating and drinking within reason so you will be able to stay with this low glycemic eating scheme for life.
Snacking, what a great idea! Snacking is hugely important to your weight control efforts since it keeps hunger at bay, adds healthy foods into your daily intake and spreads out eating during the day. With snacks in the late afternoon and at night, this is a diet for eaters who love food. I usually have a piece of fruit, a couple of whole grain crackers with soy cheese in the late afternoon, and at night I'll snack on fruit and unsalted nuts. My late afternoon snack takes the edge off my appetite so I don't overeat at dinner.

The following recipe is also from my upcoming book Eating Your Way to Healthy Living.

Pasta Vegetable Casserole
Don't be put off by all the ingredients in this scrumptious vegetarian recipe. It is a perfect dish to bring to a pot luck dinner.

• 16 ounces uncooked whole wheat rotini noodles
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed in garlic press
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 12 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 5 large yellow crookneck squash, sliced
• 4 large zucchini, sliced
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 28 ounce can salt-free diced tomatoes, drained
• handful fresh basil, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• Large container low-fat cottage cheese
• 26 ounce jar Classico Fire Roasted Tomato and Garlic Spaghetti sauce
• 1 cup part skim mozzeralla cheese, grated
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Please follow these directions.

1. Cook rotini noodles until they are al dente, or still a little chewy. Do not overcook the pasta. Drain pasta and spread the noodles in the bottom of a large baking pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
2. In a large skillet cook the onions, garlic, mushrooms, yellow squash, zucchini, and green pepper in the olive oil. Stir often and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes until the vegetables are crisp tender.
3. Add the drained tomatoes, the thawed spinach that has been squeezed dry, salt, pepper, oregano and basil to the vegetables. Stir well. Go light on the salt.
   
4. Spoon the vegetables evenly over the pasta in the baking pan. Spoon the cottage cheese over the vegetables and smooth out with the back of a spoon. Put the spaghetti sauce over the cottage cheese and spread that out evenly with the back of a spoon.
5. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the spaghetti sauce, and finally sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top.
   
6. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes until the cheese is slightly browned and the casserole is bubbly.

Serves 12.

Scalloped Tomatoes over Whole Grains

You need to know which foods you should be eating and which ones to avoid on the low glycemic eating plan. The good carbs such as fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains are perfect for this plan. Legumes and whole grains are less processed and more in their natural state. They take longer to digest and are kinder to your blood sugar and insulin levels. Also lean meats, poultry, seafood, eggs, low fat dairy products like skim milk, low fat or non fat yogurt, low fat cheese, and unsalted nuts form the backbone of this healthy way of eating. Don't overdo it on the nuts though. Count them out and while you're losing weight eat 12 nuts as a snack with a piece of fruit. There a few foods you need to cut back on or eat sparingly. This way of eating is a low glycemic or low sugar plan, so the first thing you need to cut way back on is white refined sugar. All forms of refined sugar including white granulated sugar, brown sugar, honey, molasses, corn syrup and maple syrup are offenders and should be avoided. High fructose corn syrup is in most processed foods, so look at the list of ingredients. If a food contains high fructose corn syrup don't buy it. Additionally white bread, white flour, white potatoes and white rice are highly processed and refined foods that move through your digestive tract quickly and dump a load of glucose in the bloodstream. This drives up your insulin, and your fat cells get bigger, and you gain weight. So leave off those foods. There are a few other fruits and vegetables that you should avoid for now; beets, parsnips, corn, watermelon, pineapple, banana are on that list. Don't worry; you won't go hungry. You can have sweet potatoes and a huge array of fruits and vegetables.
Getting Started: Once you have decided to give the low glycemic diet a try you need to know how to shop for food. Start reading the list of ingredients when you're in the grocery. You'll be amazed at how much sugar there is in barbecue sauce, spaghetti sauce and cereals. Look for the brand that has the least amount of sugar and try it. As for cereals read the list of ingredients and stay with the cereals that have 3 grams of sugar or less in them. Whole grain cherrios, shredded wheat, Uncle Sam's are all in that catagory. When you buy breads be careful not to buy bread that lists "enriched wheat flour" in the ingredients. Enriched wheat flour means white flour, and you don't want that. Look for whole wheat flour and other whole grains at the beginning of the list of ingredients. This is the kind of bread you want to buy. Get a big bag of brown rice, a couple of sweet potatoes, fresh fruits and vegetables and a box of whole grain crackers like low salt Triskets. Pick up a bag of whole wheat pasta, and now you're in business.

The following recipe is also from my upcoming book Eating Your Way to Healthy Living.

Scalloped Tomatoes over Whole Grains
This is a great meatless entree that combines nutritious whole grains with a delectable tomato scallop. Every summer I grow Parks Whopped tomatoes, and this variety is the best tasting tomato I've come across. Using homegrown tomatoes in this recipe rockets its taste to the nth degree, but you can also use canned tomatoes with good results.

• 1 cup mixed uncooked whole grains. Can use whole wheat berries or Kashi 7 whole grains and sesame.
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 6 medium tomatoes or 1 (16-ounce) can no salt added tomatoes, drained and cut into large pieces
• 1 sweet yellow pepper
• 2 stalks celery, cut into slices
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed in garlic press
• 1 handful fresh basil, chopped
• 1 tablespoon whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon Splenda sugar substitute
• Grated Parmesan cheese

Follow these directions.

1. Cook one of the chopped onions and the mushrooms in 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Cook for a few minutes until onions and mushroom are soft and cooked. Add whole grains to skillet with the onions, and stir often over medium heat for 2 minutes to toast the grains. Add 2 cups water, salt and pepper to the grains. Cover, and bring to a boil. When the water boils turn the heat down to low, and cook for 30 minutes or until water has cooked out.
2. While the grains are cooking start on the tomatoes. In a separate skillet heat the remaining tablespoon oil and cook the remaining chopped onion, crushed garlic, celery and yellow pepper. Cook for a few minutes over medium heat until the vegetables are partially done. If you are using fresh tomatoes cut them into large pieces and let them drain in a colander before adding them to the skillet.
   
3. Add drained tomatoes, chopped fresh basil, 1 teaspoon Splenda, salt and pepper to the skillet, and stir well.
4. Go very light on the salt. You can always add a little more. Cook tomatoes uncovered over medium heat for 5-10 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon whole wheat flour and stir into the tomatoes. Cook over low heat for another 2 minutes. Spread the cooked whole grains on the bottom of a baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Spoon the tomatoes evenly over the top of the grains. Sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese over the tomatoes. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes or until it is browned and bubbly.

Serves 4.

Swiss Chard with Garlic, Red Pepper, and Walnuts served over Pasta

One of the goals of my upcoming book Eating Your Way to Healthy Living: If I Can Do It So Can You is to change the way people think about food. Start to see food as a pleasure that nourishes instead of the enemy that makes you fat. Break out of your rut and try foods you haven't eaten before.
Excuses, Excuses.....Are you saying to yourself that you couldn't possibly follow this eating plan because you have no willpower? Maybe you're telling yourself this plan isn't for you since your kids and spouse love mashed potatoes and candy and they would revolt if you didn't supply them with these foods. These are excuses, and you're filling your head with reasons you can't change your eating habits not because you can't do it but because you don't want to. You can do anything that you want to do with enough determination and hard work. Everything we do involves some sort of price in terms of time and effort.
First let's talk about willpower. Quit worrying if you have it or not; just concentrate on the job at hand. Tell everyone you know about your new way of eating. When you tell people you're going to do something it strengthens your resolve. Remind yourself you're on a new adventure towards a better life. Take it one day at a time. You can do anything for one day. Pre-planning is important for success on this eating plan. You need to think ahead to what you'll be eating in the next couple of days so you will have the foods you need on hand.
Are you using your family as an excuse for not jumping on this bandwagon? Children love to help in the kitchen; it makes them feel important. Slowly but surely start making changes in the foods your family eats. It's your job as a parent to teach your children good eating habits and add exercise in family activities. Do you think you're doing your kids a favor by giving them highly processed foods heavy in salt, refined sugar and fat? My children used to complain when they were small and I wouldn't let them have a lot of junk food. Now that they are adults they have thanked me for teaching them how to eat. One way to get the kids excited about eating vegetables is to have a vegetable garden in the summer. It doesn't have to be a big garden at all. The point is to let the kids help you in the garden, and they will enjoy eating the food they grew themselves.
The following recipe is from my upcoming book Eating Your Way to Healthy Living.

Swiss chard with Garlic, Red Pepper, and Walnuts over Pasta

Get the freshest chard you can find for this delectable dish, or better yet grow your own. Greens are extremely nutritious, and I love finding new ways to make them. Lemon rind, garlic, red pepper and walnuts liven up this brilliant green entree. This is a perfect supper for two served over whole wheat pasta.

• 1 large bunch Swiss chard, washed and chopped with stems removed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic, crushed in a garlic press
• 1 bunch scallions, chopped using mostly the white part
• Grated lemon rind from 1 large lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• Whole wheat pasta

Follow these directions.

1. Wash the chard well and pull the tough stalks off. Chop the chard into large pieces.
   
2. In a large skillet heat the olive oil and cook the scallions and garlic in the oil over medium heat until the garlic has started to brown.
   
3. Add the chard to the skillet and stir well.
   
4. Add the grated lemon rind, red pepper flakes, walnuts, rosemary, chichen broth, salt and pepper to taste.
5. Cook uncovered over medium heat for 5 minutes. The chard cooks fast and turns a brilliant green.
6. Cook whole wheat pasta until it is still slightly chewy when you bite into it. This is called al dente. Drain the pasta in a colander and put the cooked pasta on a plate. Spoon the chard over the pasta and sprinkle freshly grated Parmesan cheese over the chard.

Serves 2.