Healthy Meal Planning

Roasted Asparagus Recipe

My favorite way to cook asparagus is to roast it in the oven with a little garlic, salt & pepper - and viola! In 15 minutes, you will have a deliciously flavorful veggie side to eat with dinner.

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Weekly Healthy Meals & Menu Plan. Starting the New Year Right

The goal of this meal plan is to help get you back on track after holiday over eating. I have already shared an "After Thanksgiving" meal plan, and this is similar but with a focus on reducing snacks & sugar plus incorporating more vegetables & beans. I'm following this plan myself this week and posting daily recaps + pictures over at my personal blog Girlxoxo.com.

Breakfast: Oat Bran + 1 Apple (or Breakfast Oats with Pears).

Saturday & Sunday: Waffles topped with Fruit Preserves and Yogurt.

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Cubano Panini Recipe

I have been totally crushing on The Diabetes DTOUR Diet Cookbook by Barabara Quinn, MS, RD and the Editors of Prevention. My favorite sandwich of late has come from this cookbook - The Cubano Panini.

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Low Calorie Breakfast: Waffles & Fruit Preserves

I had no idea Waffles with Fruit Spread and Yogurt could taste so good. I've always drizzled waffles with syrup but after this experience - never again! In this case, the brand of product you choose will make a difference.

* Select a whole grain waffle (or as close to it as you can get), with fiber and protein if possible.
* The fruit preserves should be sugar free, but if you're a natural food purist then this option is out for you so try and choose something where you can see the chunks of fruit and is not laden with sugar.

* As for the dollop of yogurt on top - don't be tempted to skip this to save calories! Choose a thick Greek yogurt - plain, non-fat if you can - and your mouth will be rewarded with bursting flavor when you bite into this waffle. And trust me - all this can be achieved for less than 300 calories!

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Recipe for Quinoa Salad with Sweet Potatoes and Bell Peppers

Quinoa looks like a grain (sort of like rice) and tastes sort of like it too (with a slightly nuttier flavor and stickier texture) - but unlike rice it's gluten free and is a complete protein (which means it has all the 12 amino acid building blocks of a protein). If you're still cooking with white rice - because the kids or healthy eating hating boyfriend won't let go (slight mini rant there) - then let them get a taste of this quinoa recipe and they will probably relent to introducing something that's healthy into their diet.

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