A recent study found that dieters who increased their whole-grain intake shed more belly fat than those eating refined grains — even though both groups ate the same number of calories! The whole-grain eaters also lowered their levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker associated with inflammation and increased risk of stroke.

So, in honor of that finding, I’m sharing my recipe for Tabbouleh, a Middle Eastern dish thought to have originated in Lebanon. This is a simple, flavorful side dish that everyone in my family enjoys. I often make a batch in the morning and leave it in the fridge until dinnertime, but it can just as easily be prepared the night before.

And, yes, it’s budget-friendly!

Overnight Tabbouleh

Serves: 6 (1/2 c. servings)
Calories: 150
Fat: 2.9 gm
Prep time: 15 minutes
Refrigerator time:

Ingredients

• 1 c. bulgur (cracked wheat)
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
• 5 green onions, chopped finely
• 3/4 c. fresh parsley, finely minced
• 1 tbsp. fresh mint, finely minced
• 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp. cumin
• Juice from one fresh lemon
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Wash the bulgur in cold water and drain well. Squeeze to remove all excess water.

2. Place bulgur in large bowl and add tomatoes, cucumber, onions, parsley and mint. Stir to combine.

3. Add oregano and cumin. Stir well.

4. Add oil, lemon juice and salt/pepper. Stir until thoroughly mixed.

5. Cover bowl and refrigerate 8 hours (or overnight) until the wheat softens. Stir before serving and enjoy!

Note: We often have this as a side dish with grilled chicken, steamed artichokes and fruit for dessert.

I know what you’re thinking: Tuna Loaf? Ewww. But don’t knock it before you’ve tried it. Not only is this meal inexpensive (tuna’s only $0.69 per can, after all), it’s also filling enough to satisfy my meat-loving husband yet yummy enough to please my two picky kids. As for me, I love that it’s quick, easy and low in both calories and fat.

Tuna Loaf
Serves: 4-6
Cooking time: 10 minutes prep, 1 hour cooking
Calories: 157 per serving
Calories from fat: 43

Ingredients

• 2 large cans of tuna in water, drained and flaked (14 1/2 oz. total)
• 1/2 cup fine breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup Egg Beaters
• 1/2 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup onion, finely chopped (about 1 small)
• 1/4 cup skim milk
• 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 dash Tabasco
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Spray large loaf pan with cooking spray.
3. Combine first five ingredients in mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
4. Turn mixture into loaf pan and pat down. Smooth the top.
5. Bake 45 minutes or until golden on top.
6. Remove from oven and allow to rest 10 minutes before serving.

Make a meal by adding: small side salad; steamed green beans tossed with “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter”, dash of fresh lemon juice and 1 tsp. minced garlic; whole wheat rolls.

WG asked for budget-friendly, healthy recipes and it just so happens I’ve got a file box full of them! This time of year, my family eats a lot of soup, and not simply because of the weather. We eat soup because it’s also one of the most economical meals to make and, in these weeks when I find myself trying to cut our finances as much as possible so we can pay taxes come April, I try to pinch every penny I can.

As it happens, this is also a very quick recipe to whip up, so it’s one I turn to on nights when I’m just too tired to do anything fancy. Not that my family knows how easy it is: I let them think I’m slaving away in the kitchen but, truth is, this meal takes less than 10 minutes to put together and another 20 on the stove. Plus, thanks to the tomatoes and spinach, it’s full of vitamins and anti-aging anti-oxidants.

Not that they need to know that, right?

Tomato Tortellini Soup
Serves: 4-6
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes (simmering)
Calories per serving: 312
Fat calories per serving: 89

Ingredients

1/2 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups chicken broth*
1 can (14 oz.) diced tomatoes OR 2 whole tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 pkg. fresh tortellini (9 oz.)
10 oz. chopped fresh or frozen but defrosted spinach (I use fresh)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
cooking spray

Directions

1. Spray large soup pan with cooking spray. Heat on medium high. Sautee onions and garlic until onions turn translucent. (About 5 minutes.)

2. Add broth and tomatoes. Turn to high heat and bring to boil.

3. Add tortellini. Cook 5 minutes.

4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Add spinach and adjust seasonings. Simmer 2-3 minutes.

6. Serve in soup bowls and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top before serving.

I usually serve this accompanied by a green salad and/or steamed zucchini, and my family doesn’t even realize they’re eating meat free for the night.

* A note on broth: I’m in the habit of saving chicken, ham and beef bones as well as vegetable scraps in the freezer. About once every couple of weeks I make a pot of broth by simmering chicken bones, for instance, with an onion (cut in halves), two stalks of celery and a whole carrot for a couple of hours. Strain the liquid and let cool, then freeze it in a muffin tin sprayed with cooking spray. Each muffin space makes 1/2 cup of frozen broth. This is so much more economical than buying broth from the store and it tastes better, too!

I’m a huge fan of just about every flavor and form of tea you can imagine: black, white or green; bagged or loose; hot or iced. I’ve long considered tea to be the second-most perfect beverage (martinis being the first), even before scientists and magazines began touting its health benefits.

As to those benefits, well, there’s no disputing that our bodies need hydration and tea’s an excellent way to deliver that. On top of it, tea contains flavanoids — plant-derived compounds that reduce allergies, infection, and microbes. They’re powerhouses in the fight against cardiovascular disease and cancer, too. The anti-oxidants in tea improve artery function, help reduce LDL cholesterol (the bad stuff) and increase HDL cholesterol (the good stuff).

In other words, tea does your body good. Ever since I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, I’ve been drinking tea like it’s going out of style. Which, of course, it’s not, particularly now that more people (including fibro sufferers like me) are discovering how tea consumption can alleviate joint pain while delivering those other remarkable health benefits, too.

Unfortunately, here in my little town it’s hard to get some of the flavors of tea that I love the most. Previously, I’ve had to rely on the kindness of my friend Kim to do my tea-shopping for me at an Asian grocery store in her hometown. Getting a package from Kim is, for me, like enjoying Christmas all over again: I always know there’s going to be something good in it, and I practically tear open the box the instant it arrives. Within minutes, I brew a pot and find something to keep my son occupied so I can hurry down to my office and enjoy a nice, leisurely cup while reading a good book.

You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve found myself reaching the bottom of one of those cups and wishing I knew how to read tea leaves. That’s the frustrating thing about drinking the loose stuff: even with a fine-meshed infuser some of the leaves escape. Sure, I could switch to regular tea bags but usually it’s hard to find quality tea in that form.

Recently I learned about Revolution Tea, a premium tea company that created a unique, pyramid-shaped, biodegradable tea bag. It’s such a superior tea bag design, in fact, that a certain big-name company is now using a similar design for their teas.

But if you’re a tea fan you know that the stuff the big-name companies sell is stale and relatively tasteless. In other words: they may have ripped off the tea-bag design, but they just can’t match the flavor of master-blended Sencha tea, for instance.

Like all high-quality green tea varieties, Sencha leaves are steamed and withered instead of fermented. That process — when performed correctly — delivers a true natural, inimitable taste. There is, after all, a reason why it’s called “green” tea: properly manufactured and prepared, it almost tastes like you’re drinking the plant itself. Meanwhile, in addition to hydrating your body and upping your flavanoid intake, you’re also getting a dose of catechin, a natural compound that contains remarkable antibiotic properties.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not about to give up my beloved martinis — or even my morning dose of coffee. But those are things I drink to get me through my day. I drink tea because it’s health benefits ensure I’ll have plenty of more days to get through and, besides, it gives me the perfect excuse to lock myself in my office while I savor a cup or two.

When I shared my Chicken Picatta recipe, it was such a hit with Jae that it got me to thinking about other speedy, healthy recipes I could share with you. After all, I don’t need fancy market research to know we’re all interested in eating better. And who doesn’t like being able to whip up something that doesn’t taste like diet food?

So here’s another recipe which, like my one for Picatta, can be used in a variety of ways. I’m posting it here as a salmon recipe, but you can use skinless, boneless chicken breasts or even jumbo shrimp just as easily. Viva versatility!

The Best Salmon You’ll Ever Eat
Serves 4-8
Calories: 371 per serving (less if you don’t use the marinade as a sauce when serving)

Ingredients:

4 to 8 salmon steaks (4 oz. each), or one large salmon fillet*
1/2 cup peanut oil
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce (tamari if you’re avoiding gluten)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
4 green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and finely minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, crushed
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon salt substitute

(* Note: You can also use 4 chicken breasts (6 ounces each) or 24 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined)

Directions:

1. Rinse salmon steaks and pat dry. Set aside.

2. Combine other ingredients in a large Ziplock bag.

3. Put the fish in the bag, seal and shake.

4. Marinate for 6-24 hours.

5. Oil grill and cook over medium-high heat as follows: salmon, 5 minutes per side; chicken 6-7 minutes per side; shrimp (on soaked wooden skewers) for 2 minutes first side and 30 seconds on other side.

See, I told you it was easy!

If there’s one flavor I could never live without, it’s got to be garlic. I use it a lot, and I do mean a lot. But anyone stepping into my kitchen would know that — even if their nose didn’t tell them — by the twin pair of garlic-shaped sconces flanking the 6 foot garlic braid hanging on my wall. I love the stuff.

Between the walnut pate that I’ve been eating for lunch lately and the flourless chicken picatta I made for dinner last night, it’s a wonder I don’t positively reek of it. Maybe I do and just don’t know it. But if that’s the case then my family does, too, so who cares?

Turns out, garlic is an amazing cancer-fighter, thanks to its ability to cause cells to emit hydrogen sulfide which acts as an anti-oxidant and increases blood flow.

Science suggests that most of us aren’t getting the most out of the garlic we use, though. To maximize its benefits, one doctor recommends keeping garlic at room temperature then letting it sit for 15 minutes between crushing (or mincing or whatever) and use i a recipe.

But how much is enough? Research indicates a minimum of 5 cloves a day, which might sound like a lot but is easy enough to accomplish if you put it in every meal. (I go through around 9 cloves per day in my cooking.)

So here’s my low-cal, flourless chicken picatta recipe to help get you started!

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We’re just about OD’d on the “Sunshine in a Glass” juice recipe I posted earlier. So today we’re trying the Dr. Oz juice recipe I found at The Online Recipe Box.

Care to place a bet on how fast my son turns up his nose and refuses to drink even the tiniest sip?

Yes, I’m still crazy about my juicer, much to my husband’s surprise. Part of it’s due to the exquisite difference between freshly made orange juice and that bitter stuff which comes from the store. It’s just such a pleasant way to start the day… until you run out of oranges, as I did this morning.

My juicer, incidentally, is why I may be the only person alive who is actually hoping to get a “Fruit of the Month” Christmas gift this year. (My husband’s sticking with his request for Super Bowl tickets. I’m thinking we’re both out of luck.)

Anyway, this morning I whipped up a new juice recipe, and I think it’s a winner. This one even passed my son’s taste tests, which is not an easy thing to do. Since it’s bright orange, my little guy dubbed it “Sunshine in a Glass”. Works for me!

Sunshine in a Glass

- 3 long carrots, scrubbed and with ends removed
- 1 red apple

Add ingredients to juicer in order given, stir and enjoy.

When I informed my husband that I intend to cut several types of foods out of my diet for a while in the hope of improving my allergies (along with my waistline and allover health), he made me promise that I won’t put him on the same food plan, too. I agreed, for the most part. That is to say that I’ll be eating mostly raw foods throughout the day, but will serve a “normal” family dinner.

I’ve simply redefined what “normal” is around here.

For the next four weeks, I’m cutting out all gluten, dairy and refined sugar from my diet. I won’t be including those things at dinnertime, either. I will still include meat at dinnertime, but not the endless stream of red meat that he’s used to. Oh, no: we’ll be having fish and chicken most nights, with red meat limited to one evening per week. On those nights, I’m going to serve a vegetarian main dish while grilling up a steak on the side for him. Me? I’ll skip it.

Yes, I do hope to lose weight in the process but my big motivator at this point is to clear up my ever-present allergy symptoms: the itchy eyes and ears, scratchy throat and head congestion that plague me every single minute of the day. There’s just no way to feel good and energetic when you’re constantly sneezing and blowing your nose, after all.

So this morning’s breakfast is a simple one that is perfect for busy mornings since most of the work is done the night before. No cooking’s required, although you can certainly warm it up if you’d like a hot meal.

Living Oatmeal to Go

- 1 cup steel cut oats (not the rolled, flat kind!)
- Water
- Chopped, pitted dates
- 1 tablespoon milled flax seed
- Almond milk
- Stevia (optional)

Directions:

1. The evening before, place oats in a container or jar and cover with water. Soak in the fridge, covered, overnight.
2. To prepare in the morning, drain in a colander and rinse, then place in bowl.
3. Add chopped dates and sprinkle with flax seed.
4. Top with almond milk and sweeten to taste with Stevia.

I wish I’d known about this recipe on those mad mornings when I used to drive my son to school while he ate a dry bowl of sugary packaged cereal in the backseat so we wouldn’t be late, then dashed by McDonald’s for my own breakfast after dropping him off. This would’ve been a much better alternative for both of us!

We had ours along with freshly-squeezed orange juice this morning, thanks to my juicer. Have I mentioned how much I love that thing?

Just when I thought I’d have to give up one of my favorite snacks while taking Alli, I found a way to have my nachos and eat them, too. It was “Beautiful Disaster’s” comment here about baked tortilla chips from Whole Foods that gave me an idea.

Why not bake my own?

Armed with these three ingredients — flour tortillas, sliced jalapeno and cheddar-flavored soy cheese — I set out to make my standard Friday night nachos… minus most of the calories and fat.

Here’s how:

1. Preheat oven to 375. Spray a cookie sheet with Pam.

2. Cut a tortilla in eighths. Place on cookie sheet, spray lightly with Pam.

3. Bake tortilla chips 5 minutes. Turn and bake an additional 3.

4. Remove from oven, sprinle 1/4 c. soy cheese on chips. Top with jalapenos as desired.

5. Return to oven until cheese melts (about 4 more minutes).

I’d show you the picture of the final product, but I ate them. Quickly. No, they didn’t taste like the nachos I’d get at a restaurant but, after going without all week, they tasted darned near like heaven to me.

Total calories: 220
Total fat: 7.5 grams
Total satisfaction: 89%