Black Bean Lasagne

1 chopped onion
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup chopped tomatoes or 1 small can diced, low salt
1 ½ c. frozen corn or fresh off the cob
1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 Tbl lime juice
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
1 large bunch of thinly sliced Swiss Chard (I like the red chard)
2 c. crushed baked tortilla chips (I bake corn tortillas in a toaster oven until crisp)
8 oz. grated low-fat cheddar cheese
2 c. red salsa, medium or mild
low-fat sour cream, optional

Saute onions in the oil until translucent. Stir in tomatoes, corn, black beans, lime juice, salt and pepper. Continue to saute until just heated through.

Meanwhile steam swiss chard for 1-3 minutes, until just wilted but still bright green. Drain immediately. (May blanch greens instead of steaming but more of the vitamins are lost.)

Lightly coat an 8x8 casserole with cooking spray. Spread half of the chips on the bottom. Spoon the greens over the chips and sprinkle on about 2/3 of the cheese. Arrange greens evenly over cheese and spoon on ½ of the salsa. Finish with the rest of the chips and top with the remaining salsa and cheddar. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling.  Serve with sour cream.  I also top mine with "hot" salsa for more pizzazz (I make it with mild salsa since my child doesn't like spicy).

Per 8-oz serving (made with low-fat cheese): 245 cal, 16.4 g protein, 4 g protein, 40 g carbohydrate.


Some tasty variations: 
1.  Replace swiss chard with sauteed zucchini and use monterey jack/feta mix for the cheese.
2.  Use blue corn tortilla chips instead of yellow

Yoga Circle - September Schedule

Sept. 4 Wendy

Sept 11 Tomo

Sept 18th Tracye

Sept 25th Krysten

Cucumbers with Wasabi

We graciously received a bag of garden fresh cucumbers.  I often just slice the cucumbers and dress lightly with seasoned rice vinegar.  Here's a delicious variation.

3 small garden cucumbers or 2 larger cucumbers from the store
1/2 tsp wasabi powder (or more if you like it spicy)
1/2 tsp warm water
2 Tbl rice vinegar (not seasoned)
1 Tbl. sugar
1/4 tsp salt or soy sauce
1 Tbl. sesame seeds

If the cucumbers are from the store (and not the unwaxed english type), they should be peeled.  Slice the cucumbers.  Make the dressing by dissolving the wasabi powder in an equal amount of water.  Add the vinegar, sugar.and salt.  Pour over the cucumbers.  Lightly toast the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan.  Sprinkle on the cucumbers right before serving.

Too Much Calcium Can Be Dangerous

While calcium is vital for strong bones, too much puts you at risk for hypertension and kidney problems.  The current recommended daily allowance (RDA) for calcium is 1,000 mg for women between the ages of 19 and 50 and 1,500 mg for women over age 50.  The average diet already contains about 250 mg of calcium - not including dairy products.  A serving of dairy from milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc adds another 200-300 mg calcium.  Most calcium supplements supply a full day's supply of calcium so adding in the calcium from your diet, it is quite easy to have too much calcium.  The excess calcium floats around in the blood and can accumulate in the arteries causing them to "harden".  Excess calcium increases a women's risk for a heart attack by a whooping 30%!

Eating calcium-rich foods such as kale, spinach, low-fat dairy, sardines and Chinese cabbage may be better for your bones.  Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis found that women who ate a calcium-rich diet had stronger bones than women who received most of their calcium from supplements even though the women who did not supplement took in less calcium overall.

So what to do?  Eat your kale (see recipe below), get daily sun-exposure (for vitamin D production) and look for foods that are rich in calcium and vitamin D.  Check out http://www.nutritiondata.com/, a website that makes it easy to search for foods based on their nutrient content.

Kale Royale

Members of Hight of Wellness have generously been sharing their garden's bounty (thanks Deb & Kathy!).  Here's an easy recipe to introduce kale to your family.

1 cup brown rice
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 bunch kale
1/4 or more cup of sun-dried tomatoes, softened in hot water
1/4 walnuts, chopped
parmesan cheese, grated

Prepare rice in the chicken broth.  Slice kale into thin ribbons, discarding the woody stems.  Steam kale until wilted.  Be careful not to overcook.  Lightly toast the walnuts in a dry skillet.  When the rice is tender, add the kale, sun-dried tomatoes, and walnuts.  Serve topped with parmesan cheese and ground black pepper.

High Triglyerides? Examine your sugar intake.

While we know that eating too much sugar is bad for our waistline, now new research shows that excess sugar can also cause high cholesterol.  Research published in the April 21, 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association strongly associated high sugar intake with elevated triglyceride levels and reduced HDL ("good" cholesterol) levels.  Excess triglycerides contribute to "hardening" of the arteries which then can result in high blood pressure and overtaxing the heart. 

So while the medical community focused on fats in the diet to control cholesterol levels, this new research demonstrates how excess sugar can also contribute to high cholesterol.  When sugar is processed in the liver, the extra sugar is converted to fat.  Sugar forms the backbone of triglycerides. 

Amercians get nearly 16% of our total calories from added sugars, significantly up from 10.6% in 1977-78.  To give you an idea of how much sugar that is, the average sugar consumption is 90 grams of added sugar or 21.4 teaspoons per day.  Much of the rise is due to the hidden sugars in processed foods.

There is some good news in all of this and that is triglyceride levels can come down relatively quickly just by reducing the amount of sugar consumed.  There's hope that new packaging is on the horizon that will separate out added sugars from sugars found naturally in foods (such as fruit and milk). In the meantime, read the ingredient list on foods and look for these added sugars:

• high fructose corn syrup
• corn syrup
• dextrose
• maltodextrin
• fruit juice concentrates
• malt syrup
• molasses
• brown sugar
• invert sugar
• honey
• sorphum
• cane sugar

Finally, the optimal way to control your sugar intake is to limit foods with added sugars.  Here are some ideas that you may want to incorporate into your life.

• Instead of sugar in your cereals or on top, use cut-up fresh fruit
• Sweeten your oatmeal with mashed up banana, cinnamon, and/or raisins
• Look for bottled spaghetti sauce without added sugars
• Swap out soft drinks for iced tea, diet sodas, sparkling water, etc.
• Switch from regular jelly to low-sugar or all-fruit varieties.

New App

A new app for smart phones allows you to check calories on the go.  The app is an extension of mypyramid.gov.  Just type in a food and the app will give you nutrition information as well as how that food contributes to the recommended daily servings from the pyramid food groups.

Find the calories and MyPyramid food groups for a food, or compare two foods.

myfoodapedia.gov

Currently, the government apps work with Blackberry, Android and iPhones.