Lunch anyone?

Here's a quick healthy recipe for a nice lunch!  We had this today, 'sew' I thought I would share. I call it a Southwestern Bean salad. It's wonderful for February Heart Health Month.

You will need:
Lettuce for your base - I used iceburg, romaine and butter lettuce
cilantro - leaves only
cucumber - about a third of a whole
bell pepper - I used a quarter of a yellow bell
onion - finely diced
(1) one boiled egg per person - chopped
(1) one can of Great Northern Beans
(1) one can of Tri-Bean blend
Salad dressing of your choice

I used organic canned beans which I mixed, drained, rinsed and set aside.  Chop your lettuce, enough for each serving and place in a large bowl.  Add chopped vegetable to your own taste: cilantro, cucumber, bell pepper, onion and egg.  Lightly toss so as to not disturb the egg very much. Place this mixture in flat serving bowls for each person to be served.  Add the drained bean mixture on top (two cans are more than enough for two persons, so you will have some left for another day!) Then use your dressing of choice! Filling and good for you!  

BTW-- I have been using a great dressing that I recommend for this salad.  It is Girard's Premium Dressing created in San Francisco.  I used the Light Champagne on this salad and it was perfect--only 60 calories and 5 grams of fat per serving!  Maybe you can get something similar where you live!

Enjoy!

Food Choices

Hubby and I were sitting in a local fast food eatery previous to going to the grocery store. (Everyone knows that you should not shop when you are hungry!)  We were discussing some research I had been doing on eating clean. (My daughter-in-law has a site and facebook about eating clean.  Here.)

You know, canned veggies sometimes are packed in BPA lined cans; milk may have the A1, not the A2 protein; fresh veggies--farmers market style-- need to be organic (clean), etc.  Many of these tidbits are not something my hubby likes to discuss, but he was attentive and entered into the conversation.  He wondered how much information that is passed around these days is just faddish, or scare tactics. Well, I am not anywhere near an expert and I am not one to blanketly believe everything that I hear either. But it is important to be careful with our choices when we buy our food.  Healthy is better, and I do believe that.

Changing a lifetime of habits can be difficult.  From my meager experience, I believe it is important to change gradually.  Like cutting out one type of food at a time.  I know this will sound silly, (but it is a start and a commitment):  stop ordering fries with your meal if you have to go through the drive thru. And don't replace it with anything! I know, I know, I can just hear you---"But potatoes are not bad for you, and I love the saltiness "  Well, forgoing it lowers your caloric intake and reduces the amount of fat that you are putting in your body. BTW--I drink diet soda with my hamburger, but there are pros and cons with that too!

Choices, 

Whatcha gonna do?

P.S.  Next month is Heart Health Month!