Alright.... getting back in the swing of things on trying to eat a whole foods diet once again. Its kinda been hard since Ive been broke. but back on to feeling better. Ive been doing alot of whole grain baking lately, with oats fruit cookies.

Here is the recipie which is very verstile:

1 15 oz can of fruit (anykind, lite is better)
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup whole oats
1 T baking soda
1 cup brown sugar

drain fruit, liquify in blender like paste, mix together all dry ingredients add fruit... heat oven 350 drap by spoonful onto cookie sheet ( i use parchment paper spray with a little PAM) bake 8-12 minute til golden brown

you can actually add whatever you want to these, nuts, raisins, cranberries, trail mix... yum and flavoring too... vanilla, almond whatever floats your boat but there is the basic cookie. Kids like them too!

what is "lite fruit"?

I like that this healthy eating thread started out w a cookie recipe, and one that has a cup of sugar in it

lol...gotta make up for something... no fat! its 80 calories per cookie! just look at the label for shit like Kashi cookies... same difference.... you can use artificial sweetners if you like. This morning I actually made a batch with 3 fresh bananas and a 1/4 cup of cocoa and cut back the sugar to 1/2 cup. You know for people with a sweet tooth like myself it works!

I was hoping that there were others who enjoy or converted favorite recipies to a whole food version or were trying to lose wieght. I enjoy eating this way....I feel a whole lot better physically when ive cut out refined foods out of my diet.

Turkey Burger...

90/10 Lean Turkey Meat (about a pound)
1 Cage Free Large Egg
Zucchini shredded
Carrots shredded
1 Clove of Pressed Garlic
Chopped Onions
Chopped Jalepeno
Salt / Pepper

Make a patty out of it, put it in the frying pan (with some olive oil) cook through, put on a whole wheat bun, and you have a healthy alternative to a regular hamburger. The egg adds some fat, but also add to the protein count to help fill you up. Plus you're getting lots of healthy veggies in the mix as well as whole wheat for the fiber.

well in all seriousness, I like to eat healthy and it's mostly by limiting my intake of "junk" (soda, candy, cookies, etc). Just try and eat a lot of fruit and veggies, drink a lot of water and tea, juices cut 50-50 w water. I'd like to get a juicer soon and make fruit/veggie juice blends.

Try tossing a little feta in there and spice it up with some worcestershire, hot sauce and whatever spices you like and toss it on the grill. It makes a fantastic burger. The recipe i use actually calls for using a few ground up saltines (unsalted tops though) to hold the patty together but you could probably get away with some whole wheat bread crumbs instead. Using a pound of meat will yield 6 decent sized burgers, and each one clocks in at about 150 cals without the bun.

Tomato Basil Soup

Ingredients
* 2 tbsp Butter
* 1 medium Yellow Onion
* 2 clove Garlic
* 3 tbsp All-purpose Flour
* 3lbs fresh tomatoes (or two 26oz cans of "no salt added" tomatoes)
* 1 tsp Honey
* 1/2 tsp Thyme, Dried
* 1 tsp Basil, Dried
* 1/4 tsp Paprika
* 1 tbsp Bay Leaf
* 1/2 tsp hot sauce
* 1/2 cup fat free sour cream
* 1/4 tsp Pepper, Black
* 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth (preferably homemade, otherwise try to buy a low sodium one)

Directions

1. sautee onions and garlic in butter
2. add flour and broth until slightly thick
3. add remaining ingredients except sour cream, use paprika and hot sauce to taste.
4. simmer covered for 30 minutes
5. pass through blender or food processor, transfer back to pot.
6. serve with dollop of sour cream

Yields 4-6 two-cup servings, 140 cal/250mg sodium each (sodium content is virtually nil if you make your own broth and don't add any salt)

I love the idea of Worcestershire sauce and some hot sauce. Sometimes, I'll sprinkle black and cayenne pepper on the outside of the patty for extra seasoning as well as other seasons I'm feeling at the time. I use the egg to hold the meat together opposed to the bread crumbs...both work, but to cut carbs, I use the egg. Not that I count carbs or anything, but I'd just prefer to have beer with it, and I'll get lots of carbs from a few of those.

This looks delicious! I'm gonna have to try that with a grilled cheese sandwich

Have you ever replaced Sour Cream with plain Greek yogurt? Lower fat and better for you...I subbed it when I made my last batch of chili, and it worked surprisingly well.

I hadn't considered it but it might be worth a try. I typically use fat free sour cream though, it's one of those things i don't notice a major difference between fat free and the regular kind so i opt for the "diet" one.

I'm not a dietier or anything so i always opt for flavour over everything else, but i do try to find ways to make my favorite foods healthier by reducing calories, sodium and fat whenever possible without compromising taste. So i've got a lot of traditional recipes that i modify to be a little healthier. I'll try to post some as i think of them. A good rule of thumb is that pretty much anything you can make from scratch instead of getting from a box or a restaurant will be significantly healthier and more nutritious...and most likely taste better too.

I got a fruit/veggie juicer about 6 months ago and it's one the best gifts I've ever gotten. I use it all the time. As long as you put a few carrots and an apple in there, it'll taste pretty damn good no matter what else you decide to throw in it.

My mix usually includes carrots, apple, celery, spinach, romaine lettuce, cucumber, a clove of garlic, and maybe another random veggie or two. In the summer I add watermelon (including the rind).

I did read somewhere that you should juice fruits and veggies at separate times during the day (with the exception of apples which can be added to either blend). Something about your body not being able to properly process the nutrients from both fruits and veggies at the same time.

Indeed! My gal is a big time cooker, and she uses little salt, and it makes a big difference. For example, when I go out to eat now, food just seems way too salty for my liking. I've talked her into subbing wheat pasta for the regular kind, and using low sodium canned food. Like when we make chili now, we'll used the reduced sodium kidney beans which have only 5% sodium as opposed to 17%. When we used diced tomatoes, we now get the "no salt added" kind. I'm hoping doing little things like that will pay off in the long run. Also, I really haven't really noticed a major flavor change by using lower fat / lower sodium food.

I definitely still have a lot of work to do to eat better, especially my portions, but I'm on my way.

Some of the things I've done:

Use reduced sodium canned goods (beans, broth, etc..)
Use cheese with 2% milk
Whole wheat pasta, or that pasta plus stuff
Eat more veggies / fruit
Drink Green Tea
Use Whole Milk instead of half & half in my coffee
Drink Seltzer Water instead of sodas (turns out I just wanted the carbonation, I don't miss soda at all)
Eat Dark Chocolate that is at least 70% cocoa instead of candy like Snickers, Kit Kats, etc...
Cook with Olive or Canola oil and never Vegetable oil

Hopefully those changes will pay off for me

d_v....I pretty much follow the same logic.

I use olive oil on baked potatoes or veggies instead of butter.

So this is my New Years resolution and I've been doing really well so far. Basically just been limiting portions and eating better stuff while limiting myself to one beer a week (the hardest part). Was just wondering if anyone had some tips, especially about snacks, entrees and alcohol. Breakfast has been easy, egg whites, veggie sausage links (so much protein and really good), an apple and multigrain toast. But could always use some more ideas. That turkey burger looks awesome, for example. But mostly I'd like to know the healthiest thing to drink in terms of alcohol.

red wine can help prevent heart disease.

Yeah I remembered a friend of mine on a diet saying red wine and whiskey being relatively healthy compared to beer, which is what I usually drink. Becoming mainly a whiskey drinker would be no problem for me.

Chicken McNuggets.

you're basically the barry zuckercorn of food & debate