Recipes - The Costco Connection

Costco is a warehouse-retailer that sells high-quality bulk items and speciality items. They have an excellent produce section (with organic too).

What is really great is their online magazine, The Costco Connection are all the recipes and the recipe booklets!

One booklet, Simply Delicious, contains recipes such as Baked Orange French Toast, Breakfast Yogurt Bowls, Chicken Salad with Fruit and Nuts, Island Kabobs with Tropical Fruit Salsa, and a bunch more

Another booklet, Smart Cooking contains recipes such as Good Morning Apple Cake, Apple Crab Salad, Grilled Chicken Breasts under Bricks, Crab Hushpuppies, and more. Also includes tips on Storing Your Produce

Recipes - Whole Foods Market - Budget Friendly Recipes

Whole Foods Market is a health-oriented grocery store that has a lot of organic and locally grown foods and even some interesting imported foods from a variety of ethnic groups. I love the variety this store offers and they often have sales and coupons (see the website) so you're not overwhelmed by the higher prices. And you can't beat the hot food and salad buffets they offer at lunchtime.

But, the one area on the website I really enjoy are the Budget-Friendly Recipes so you can get ideas on what to cook in a healthy way with organic products (from any store, really).

A Sample of their recipes includes:
• Double-Stuffed Deviled Eggs with Ham
• Irish Cheddar Potato Soup with Asparagus
• Honey Mustard Mucho Mango Dip
• Health Starts Here® Raspberry Nice Cream
• Carrot and Horseradish Roasted Cod with Red Potatoes and Lemons

Healthy Living - FREE - Aim for a Healthy Weight

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has a free booklet, Aim for a Healthy Weight that you can download. It starts with the definitions of overweight (with a body mass index chart) and the risks of being overweight.

There's a section for daily food amounts (similar to the food pyramid but in chart format).

The food replacement section is really helpful. You can see how to swap your usual (more fattening) foods for healthier options. For example, whole eggs can be swapped for egg whites or egg substitute. Another example is to swap ice cream for frozen yogurt.

The next section deals with portion control - which is really important. They even show pictures of what a portion for a particular food group should look like. For example, one medium fruit is about the size of a baseball. One cup of cereal flakes is the size of your fist. Then you can visualize if your portions are too big.

There's a section on eating healthy while dining out and one for eating healthier ethnic foods.

Toward the end is a discussion on physical activity and suggestions on sneaking in some activities. I like the sample walking plan - something that requires no equipment and only a minimal amount of time.

Healthy Living - HUD - Help Yourself to a Healthy Home

Your overall health begins at home - literally. You may not realize the allergens that exist or the dangers around you, especially if you live in an older home.

HUD has provided a free booklet, Help Yourself to a Healthy Home which touches on indoor air quality, mold, lead poisoning, carbon monoxide, drinking water quality, pesticides, home safety, and more. Each section has questions and action steps to follow.

Food - FREE 21 Day Vegan Kickstart Program

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) has a 21 day Vegan kickstart program that you can register for which will email you tips and recipes and the benefits of a vegan diet. Vegan diets differ from vegetarian diets in that vegans eliminate animal-based foods such as eggs snd milk. (A nice comparison can be found at this site: Vegan vs Vegetarian.

Join the kickstart program here: 21 Day Vegan Kickstart

Recipes - Rutabaga

A great way to incorporate more vegetables into your diet is to try new recipes by trying new foods. Rutabagas are an interesting, different root vegetable (known in some places as turnips) that can be used in a variety of ways - roasted, baked, broiled, boiled, stewed, etc. In Scotland, they are known as "neeps" and made in a dish called "neeps and tatties" where tatties are potatoes.

Here are a few recipes to try:
Rutabaga Hash With Onions and Crisp Bacon

Roasted Rutabaga

Rutabaga Oven Fries

Scandinavian Rutabaga Ham (Griljerad Kålrot)

Food - 20 High Fiber Foods by Huffington Post

Fiber has many health and diet benefits - it keeps you feeling full, it can lower cholesterol and blood sugar, it can keep your colon clear and avoid hemorrhoids. Huffington Post has a nice slide show of 20 high fiber foods. CLICK HERE to view it.

Some high fiber foods you need:
• Corn
• Beans (White, black, garbanzo, kidney, etc)
• Avocado
• Whole Wheat Pasta and Bread
• Brown Rice
• Edamame
• Lentils
• Pear
• Artichoke
• Oats and Oatmeal
• Raspberries
• Peas
• Broccoli
• Apples
• Almonds
• Barley