Meatless Monday Menu

Wondering what and how to cook a Meatless Monday meal?  But first, what is it? Meatless Monday is a nationwidemovement to help encourage person to eat healthier and preserve the environmentat the same time.  Mass meat productiontakes a big toll on the environment and by avoiding meat even for only one daya week can help reduce the carbon dioxide levels in the environment and loweryour cholesterol levels too.  This fitshand in hand with Earth Day being on Monday, making it the perfect way tocelebrate Earth Day this year.

 Here is an easy,healthy, fast dinner to prepare in celebration of Earth Day: Roasted Asparagus,Cherry Tomato Sauce and Pasta. 

First start with the cherry tomato sauce since is takes thelongest.

Cherry Tomato Sauce:

Ingredients:

2 tsp olive oil

1 pint cherry tomatoes

1 pint baby bell mushrooms

1 tsp dried onion

A pinch of corn starch

Salt to taste

Directions:

1.      Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put olive oil in apan and turn on heat until warm then add the cherry tomatoes to the skillet andcover.  While the tomatoes warm, wash thebella mushrooms and halve the bigger mushrooms. Once the mushrooms are all washed add them to the skillet.  Also add the dried onions and a dash of salt,put heat on medium and cover skillet. Now cook the pasta of your choice accordingto the package.  Make enough for 4serving.

2.      Next start the Roasted Asparagus.

Roasted Asparagus:

Ingredients:

2 tsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1        pound asparagus

3.      Rinse asparagus and chop off bottom fibrous inchof the asparagus stocks.  Put theasparagus on a cookie sheet drizzle on olive oil and sprinkle on salt andpepper. Now mix it all up with your hands and put the cookie sheet in theoven.  It should be ready in about 15minutes.  Now go set the table.

4.      Once the mushrooms and tomatoes are soft add asprinkle of cornstarch and stir the vegetable juices to thicken up the sauce.It should take the vegetables between 30-45 minutes to soften.

5.      Your food is done and your table is set, now godig in.

What to eat?

Most people wonder what they should eat but how many of us wonder how much should I have?  This is not in reference to serving sizes, but how many serving?  How many servings of milk, grain, fats, etc should one have a day?  Sorry to say this, but there is no cut and dry answer.  It depends on the diet you choose to follow; here we are referring to healthy diets like the Mediterranean, the DASH Diet and numerous others.  Keeping up with the research and what the different experts and societies say becomes frustrating and cumbersome.  Even if you do decide on a specific diet you want to follow how will you keep count of all the different serving you ate each day without getting burnt out.  Well the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) came up with a solution, it is quite easy.  Its name is My Plate.

Simplicity is the key regarding My Plate.  The beauty of this new nutritional guide is it allows you to determine how healthy your plate is with just one glance.  It also works wonders with children.  It makes parents job easy by just taking a quick look at the plate and teaching children how to eat healthy easier.  Simply divide your plate into 4 sections, 1 fourth vegetables, 1 fourth fruit, 1 fourth grain (half of which at least should be whole grains) and 1 fourth proteins and finally have a serving of dairy 3 times a day.

Edamame, tangerine, tuna salad and whole grain crackers

Everything has a downside, and so does My Plate.  The problem with this design is plate size.  If you choose a plate too big, no matter how healthy the food you put on it, you will over eat.  My recommendation is to stick to 9 inch plates for adults and teenagers, not the 12 inch plates most people use these days.  And 6 inch plates for school age children. 

My plate makes eating healthy easier, without having to remember numbers of serving or counting calories.  But it is crucial to put healthy food on that plate.  For example French fries are not a vegetable, try carrot sticks instead.  Finally, be mindful of the size of your plate.  Always try to use the smaller plate, you will cut calories. If your plates are too big, it is definitely worth buying a new set of dishes.  It will help both your wallet and waistline in the end.

Weekly Weigh-in: 5

I am very happy to announce I am back on track this week! I lost 1 pound this week putting me 2 pounds from my reward weight. Maybe I'll be able to get that dress I liked in a couple weeks. This is so exciting. From my yoyo experience, the key to painless weight loss is an abundance of vegetables and fruits. I do not know what I would do without then. Probably spend the whole day hungry counting the seconds to my next meal but by snacking on fruits and eating lots of vegetables at each meal, I get through the day feeling satisfied most of the time.

But eating mostly fruits and vegetables is not enough. Being mindful of serving sizes is also crucial. We have become so accustomed to over eating that the proper proportions look miniscule. How many people do you know have an ice scoop size of pasta and call it their serving. Most people eat half a plate of pasta, not a small ice cream scoop serving. Did you know 1/2 a cup of rice is considered a serving? Next time you cook rice, use a measuring cup and serve yourself only half a cup of rice. You will be surprised how small the amount is.

Please have a look at the chart below which shows the serving sizes for different food and then relates the sizes to every day items. This will allow you to remember the proper portion for each food even if you do not have your food scale or measuring cup close by.