Archive for category: Health & Fitness Tips

Submitted by Claudia O’Brien

• 1 ½ pounds potato (I use Yukon Gold)
• ¾ c. skim or 1% low-fat milk
• 2 T. grated Parmesan cheese
• ½ t. salt
• 1/8 t. black pepper

Place potato in medium saucepan; add water to cover.  Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25 minutes or until tender.  Drain.  Return potatoes to pan.  Add milk and remaining ingredients; mash with potato masher.  Or for creamy, light potatoes, use an electronic mixer.

Submitted by Steph Levine

• 1 can cream style corn
• 1 can regular corn (don’t drain)
• 1 cup sour cream (can use light, but not good with fat free)
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1 stick margarine melted
• 1 box corn muffin mix (I always use Jiffy)

Mix all ingredients together (adding corn muffin mix last), and bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes covered.

Submitted by Jill Braun

• 1 butternut squash (2 lb)
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 cup canned diced tomatoes
• 1/3 cup golden raisins
• 1 – 32 oz. container vegetable broth
• 1 – 15.5 oz. can chickpeas, drained
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 ½  cup couscous
• 2 tbsp. chopped flat leafy parsley leaves
• ¼ cup almonds, chopped

Halve and peel the squash. Remove the seeds and cut the squash into 1–inch chunks. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for five minutes. Add the garlic, cayenne, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ½ tsp. of the cumin and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in the squash, tomatoes, raisins, broth, and chickpeas, and 1 ½ tsp. of the salt.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.  Uncover and cook until the squash is tender, 15–20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan bring  1-½ cups water and the remaining cumin and salt to a boil.  Stir in the couscous.  Cover and remove from the heat, and let stand for 5-10 minutes.  Fluff with a fork.  Divide the couscous among individual bowls and ladle the squash over top.  Sprinkle with parsley and almonds.

Submitted by Colleen Tsironis

Preliminary notes:

The beauty of this dish is it is fast, healthy and can altered in many, many ways.  All of the ingredient quantities can be increased or decreased, depending on what our family likes.

• 4 – 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 4 – 6 small onions, chopped (about 1–1.5 cups)
• 2 cups chopped, fresh tomatoes
• 1 can black beans
• Big bunch basil
• Salt, pepper, olive oil
• Feta

Heat olive oil in large skillet; add garlic until just golden; next add onions until translucent; next add tomatoes; next add chopped basil; next add 1 can black beans (drained or with liquid is fine); after it simmers a bit, taste and add salt/pepper. Serve over any noodles and top with crumbled feta cheese.

Submitted by Casey Smith

• 1 – 8 oz pkg. fettuccini
• 4T – butter
• 3 – cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 – 8 oz pkg. mushrooms sliced
• ½  – medium onion chopped
• 10 oz. marinated artichoke hears (undrained)
• 8 oz. sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
• 1 – 2oz. can black olives drained
• 1 – ripe tomato chopped
• 2 T – lemon juice
• 1 – cup dry white wine
• 1 – cup Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta, melt butter.  Sauté onions, mushrooms and garlic till tender, add sun-dried tomatoes, olives, artichokes, wine and lemon.  Bring to a boil.  Cook until liquid is reduced by about 1/3.  Toss pasta with sauce.  Then top with tomatoes and cheese.  Add pepper to taste.