I'm Looking for Healthy Recipes

I think you need to be a bit more specific in your call for healthy foods... I mean, for instance, are you vegetarian? Do you like eggs? Do you hate the taste of certain foodstuffs or spices?

Healthy eating for me

Avoidance of most sugars
Small amounts of meat at meals, and all organic
use of low-fat products, where applicable - but use double cream for the taste/texture!
I do use butter, cos I hate those manufactured spread
Whole grain bread
Lots of fresh vegetables, cooked minimally and in season, where possible.
Use of EVOO and OO and lighter oils like sunflower, safflower etc.
Drink alcohol in moderation.

Shrimp pasta pomodora

I got this recipe out of my P90X workout book and it actually taste good! And it is light!

Basics:

olive oil in pan with garlic till browned
add chicken broth and tomatoes
simmer etc...

cook pasta of choice

add shrimp to sauce for another 5-10 minutes

serve over pasta. It is very simple and another 1 pan recipe that I like.. well 2 pan I guess. lol.

Try some cookbooks of cuisines that are notoriously healthy.
Italian cuisine is extremely heavy on the vegetables and very light on the meat. It also has lots of protein substitution recipes, pasta e ceci, pasta e fagioli, bean or lentil soups served on top of toasted bread rubbed with garlic. Vegetable soups of all kinds. There are hundreds of soups and vegetable-based pasta dishes.
Asian cuisines also are heavy on the vegetables, though they may need more unusual ingredients.

We just had this one for a fast one:
1 head Bok Choy
30 medium shrimp
minced garlic
smoked paprika
black pepper
kosher salt
a bit of butter.
chcken stock
olive or peanut oil

chop the bok choy and toss it into a very hot skillet with a tbsp. of good oil. When it's about half done, add salt to taste and a half cup or so of stock. Let it finish. Just a few minutes.
In another very hot skillet, add a tbsp of olive oil and about a half teaspoon of butter.When the butter begins to brown, dump in the shrimp and lots of minced garlic and plenty of paprika, ground pepper and salt. Toss about three minutes till done.
split the bok choy betwen two plates, parcel out the shrimp 15 to a plate over the bok choy, and scrape the remaining oil, garlic butter and good stuff over it all.
20 minutes, nice light din din for two.
I'm thinking of adding a handful of good peanuts next time. Ought to be perfect with the smoked paprika.

You could do this with any green; collard, kale or chard would work well too, adjust cooking time for the tougher greens like kale.

Hey, how are you liking P90x? Just started it last week and its SERIOUS! Im loving it, the chest and back routine is the best workout Ive ever had in my life! And ive worked out now for like 3 or 4 years!

Sorry to be off topic but when I saw P90X I had to comment!

As far as healthy goes its all about good fats, complex carbs, and protein, protein, protein! Follow that and eat the same or less cal's then you burn, and you'll be looking good in no time!

My breakfast pretty much every morning:

1.5 scoops protein powder
1 Banana
1 Tbsp Peanut butter
Some Oatmeal
1 Cup 1% or Nonfat milk

Put it all in a blender with some ice and have at it. Such a satisfying meal that will easily get you through the next 2 to 3 hours!

Jim

Hey..
Good discussion about recipes. I like it very much.:cool:

Hey Candee, its dry oatmeal :lips: Its an amazing breakfast!

Jim

What exactly is protein powder, anyway? I hear people talk about it but nobody says what it is. It sounds like some artificial concoction or industrial product, which doesn;t sound very healthy. Or is it just dried milk, soybean dust and seeds or something?

legumes and rice are what they eat in heaven

delicious... can have meat or no meat, filling, packed with protein and fibver and complex and simple carbohydrates

i believe that india and the caribbean has it perfected

dal and rice or dal and roti (india, trinidad, guyana)

curried chana (curried chickpeas... india, trinidad, guyana)



lentil soups with rice (trinidad)

mung bean rice (guyana)

black bean soup with rice (cuba... moros y cristianos)

sauce pois with rice (haiti stewed bean puree)

haricots rouges (french caribbean stewed red beans... im pretty sure this is very similar to what they eat in new orleans, maybe identical)

habichuelas con arroz (puerto rican red beans and rice)

rice and peas (jamaica)

pigeon peas and rice (trinidad and guyana )

tripe and broad beans - jamaica

foul madames (egypt and lebanese fava beans)

stewed pigion peas (gungo peas) with pigtail and coconut muilk - jamaica

arroz con gandules (puerto rico)

colombians also make excellent stewed red beans... im gonna go have soem now with some salsa rosada and some aji, a fried egg and some sweet plantain!!

There are a number of kinds of protien powder. Some is made from whey, so it's a dried dairy product. Another is a soy product. The origin will be stated on the package. Be sure to check the nutritional values. The typical powder will contain about 23 grams of protien, but the cheaper brands may have less, or they will state a "serving" as actually twice the amount of powder as the better ones.

rice rpotein powder is good too

Ok, thanks for the info. But i guess my question is, why eat powder drinks, which always have other stuff in them and have other stuff missing, and why not eat good food like cheese, beans, milk, actual curds and whey (ricotta is a cheese made from whey, after the regular cheese has been made) and other real proteins. The real sources will also give us a lot of othyer necessary stuff (beans and rice, beans and wheat, soups and all kinds of good foods,are powerhouses of protein and everything else, like vitamins and minerals and trace elements that have probably not even been discovered yet.
And they taste good!

Some manufacturers used to make it by boiling horse hides and then spray drying the liquid to a powder form. Happy healthy eating!!!!!!:bounce:

Thanks a lot Ed. You make a good argument for being certain the products are organic, and for reading the label as well.

The question was asked "why not just eat the food, instead of using the protein powder?". One reason is the increased volume of food you would need to consume, in order to ge the same benefit as from the powder. There is the matter of flavor too, since the powders generally are much more pleasant than a serving of cooked dried soy beans, for example. Yes, convenience is certainly a consideration as well. Not only the convenience in terms of preparation, but also of storage. Whereas it is necessary to refrigerate dairy products, the dried powder has a much longer shelf life without being kept cold. Also, you can beef up many recipes with the powder more easily than with the whole foods. For instance, I substitue a scoop or two of the powder for flour to such things as pancake batter, corn bread mix, cookie dough, etc. There is no discernable difference in taste or texture, but my family is getting a healthier version of their favorite foods.

"Higher protein" does not necessarily mean "healthy", it may be true for those whose diets are "protein deficient" but for those with a "balanced diet", "protein suppliments" may not always be a "good thing".

BTW, depending on how the horses were raised, powdered horsehide "may" be organic, as the current usage of the term is defined.

Hey, Ed, I tend to think horsehides would be certainly more organic than the cows that are fed all kinds of crap so they'll get fat quick and produce more meat! Anyway, isnl;t that what gelatin is made from?
When mad cow was a risk here, i started eating horsemeat (which we can find in specialized butchers and now in some supermarkets) and it's very good. Not being mass-raised for meat means it's more like real meat. Traditionally, in Rome, it was what people gave their kids, because of its nutritional value.

Anyway, if you eat a balanced diet (and this doesn;t mean you need to swallow dried soybeans!) you shouldn't need protein powder, I would think, unless you;re sick. And you don;t need such masses of protein anyway,to be healthy. Good food is good for you and tastes good.
But supplements make someone rich, which should make us all think twice.

Lentil soup with a base of garlic sauteed in oil, and spinach added, poured over a toasted piece of toasted artisan whole wheat bread with garlic rubbed on it - that's lots of protein and no sacrifice! There are millions of recipes from every cuisine (because there were poor people all over the world who needed protein and liked to taste good food) that are high in protein and with lots of other benefits.

For breakfast, I used to make my kids a breakfast drink - i'd freeze some fruit in small packages, like bananas, strawberries, peaches, whatever was in season, - i'd throw one in the blender with milk and some dry milk powder (to make it nice and thick like a frappe and add a little more nourishment) and a little sugar. Even when they were in that stage of not wanting to eat breakfast, they'd always take this. It's just as quick as pouring a powder into a blender, really. Or i'd use frozen milk, frozen in ice cube trays, and add chocolate. Though i think the chocolate has an enzyme that makes the calcium not be assimilated. Not sure of this.

yes

but protein powder can be used as a supplement or ingredient for example in a fruit smoothie after an intense workout. (especially if it is a muscle toning workout like weightlifting, swimming, yoga or martial arts or dance or sport... for aerobics like running maybe use less protein than if it is a more intense msucle workout.

in general i would see a nutritionist

another good option is a tradtiional chinese doctor

they know a LOT about diet, supplements, and overall health!

check it out!