Recipe for Life-Black Bean and Corn Salad
July 10, 2008 by Loretta Parker Spivey
Filed under ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE
My goal for this weeks Recipe for Life, in addition to the standard goal of providing you with meal ideas that are simple, inexpensive and healthy, is to avoid the heat of the stove as much as possible. I promise you that this salad not only meets the criteria, but is also delicious. The only catch is that you should only make as much as you plan to eat because it’s not that great the next day.
This salad packs a nutritional punch that is unrivaled by the typical tossed salad. In addition, the addition of a grain like brown rice or a protein, such as chicken breasts or the falafel recipe would take this from a salad to a full fledged meal. Trader Joe’s Soy and Flax tortilla chips (I promise they don’t taste like cardboard) would also be a great and healthful addition.
Not sure who gets the credit for this recipe. It has evolved over a period of time.
Recipe for Life –Black Bean and Corn Salad
Ingredients: (Dressing)
- 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt (omit if you use optional Italian dressing)
- 1/4 cup your favorite Italian dressing (optional)
Ingredients: (Salad)
- 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels
- 1 avocado - peeled, pitted and diced
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1/4 red onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
Instructions:
- Place lime juice, olive oil, garlic, salt (if not using Italian dressing), and Italian dressing in a small jar. Cover tightly, and shake until ingredients are well mixed.
- In medium sized bowl, combine beans, corn, avocado, bell pepper, tomatoes, green onions, red onions and cilantro (if using). Shake dressing, to make sure its mixed well , and pour over the salad. Stir salad to coat vegetables and beans with dressing, and serve immediately. Enjoy!
I like to make the dressing a couple hours in advance to allow the flavors to meld together, but it certainly is not necessary.
Black beans are high in protein, fiber, antioxidants and taste!
Try this recipe and let me know how you like it. I believe it’s a great option for you as you battle Alzheimer’s disease. Consider adding it to your menu plan. It’s good food that’s good for YOU!
Recipe for Life–Spinach Salad with a Twist!
June 19, 2008 by Loretta Parker Spivey
Filed under ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE
It’s Thursday, that means it’s time for a Recipe for LIFE. one that is simple to prepare, inexpensive and healthy.
In honor of summer, I’m giving you a salad recipe. I made it over the weekend and it was a big hit at the Father’s Day Picnic I attended. It meets the criteria of being healthy. The ingredients are fairly inexpensive and its pretty easy. Not quite as easy as tossing everything in a crockpot, but it’s still pretty simple.
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 3/4 cup raw cashews
- 1 cup craisins
- 1 pound spinach, rinsed well and cut/torn into bite-size pieces
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup sweetener of your choice (more or less to taste)
- 2 teaspoons minced onion
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup imitation bacon bits
- 1 small can mandarin oranges (drained, save juice)
Instructions:
In a small bowl, mix maple syrup and cashews well (be sure all cashews are coated). Place cashews on cookie sheet, cover with foil for easy clean up) and bake in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, till cashews are glazed and syrup is just about dry. Its okay, if cashews are a sticky. Remove from oven and cool completely
To toast sesame seeds, put into skillet over medium heat and stir frequently to keep from burning. When sesame seeds turn golden brown, they are ready. Remove from heat and set aside
Drain Mandarin oranges, save juice and set aside
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, sweetener, onion, paprika, Lemon juice, olive oil and a couple tablespoons of mandarin orange juice. I like to make the dressing the night before or early in the day to give flavors a chance to meld together.
In a large bowl, combine the spinach with the glazed cashews and craisins.
Just prior to serving pour dressing over spinach, cashews and craisin mixture. Garnish with imitation bacon bits and ENJOY!
Here’s why Spinach is good for you.
Like other dark greens, spinach is an excellent source of beta-carotene, a powerful disease-fighting antioxidant that’s been shown, among other things, to reduce the risk of developing cataracts. It fights heart disease and cancer as well. (source- www.howstuffworks.com)
THE HART-SERIES: February 8, 2008 to March 7, 2008
March 9, 2008 by HART 1-800-HART
Filed under OBESITY
February is always one of the busiest times of the year for me - next to April and then June - for my bookkeeping, accounting and income tax business. It’s obvious that I can’t keep up with a simple task of documenting and recording all of my food intake, and counting points trying to lose weight.
The good news is, that during this period, I weighed myself only twice. On the morning of Friday February 22, 2008 I weighed 273.5 lbs and on March 1st, 2008 I was back up to 276.0 lbs. The bad news is that I’m still heading upwards and on Friday March 7, 2008 (yesterday morning) I am back up to 279.0 lbs.
So What Is Wrong With Me?
First of all, (no Joke) but in February I was on a 6 day week. I was eating all over the place. If you scan the dates of the pictures below .. the missing dates were probably the dates that I worked all night or, slept very little that day with power snoozes. In my mind - I was working 24/7 .. well, feeling like I was anyway .. and only eating once a day. For the rest of the day I would have either toast and peanut butter for breakfast, coffee and maybe a few handfuls of Puffed Wheat or maybe a Thinsation snack of something like that. Mentally, each day - I would kind of guestimate in my head if I was over 20 Weight Watcher points and that would pretty much guide me to how much and kind of Supper dinner I would have. And, I would keep the camera on my kitchen table and religiously take the picture of my dinner. There was 2 days from February 8-29th that I ate out - once at Palatal Restaurant again for a Mongolian Stirfry and Feb 28th I pigged out at A&W with probably about 100 points (double Mozza, onion rings, large root beer, PLUS a whistle dog). I didn’t eat that day and was a little sick on the 29th from that excess, but booooooooy that burger and onion rings tasted good!
And - working my butt off - suddenly my deadline passed, and my adrenalin slowed down. I was checking emails more. Catching up on my blogging. Twittering. And eating as much as I did in February. Yet, I have gained weight. Also, I’ve been trying to get back on a 24-hour day (opposed to a 28-hour day) and trying to sleep 6-8 hours a day since the beginning of the month, and you know what? It’s hard. One night I slept 11 hours and woke up at lunchtime, which was my breakfast, and still had a quick lunch and then ate dinner at dinner time.
I’m still Not Giving Up!
I can’t walk away from this 3rd attempt to get back in shape, like I did the past 2 years. Tomorrow is a new day. So I have started a new notebook and I’m keeping it with my camera and starting tomorrow - a new day - I go back on my diet, and counting points. Hopefully the weather will start to let up and I can get some outside exercise .. but, I have been cycling in my basement on the exercise bike. The only thing is - compared to how many hours my wife works out a week … (about 7 hours) My 10 minutes of cycling while drinking coffee in the morning doesn’t cut it. I have to get serious on that aspect too.
So, this is what I have been eating anyway
I’ve discovered Pita pockets, and have enjoyed the convenience of having a quick sandwich .. rather than the time it takes to make a really tasty salad. Other than that, I’m pretty much eating the same ole same ole stuff. One day I will come back and shrink these pictures, but in the meantime .. please wait while the pictures are loading.
THE HART-SERIES: February 1-7, 2008
February 18, 2008 by HART 1-800-HART
Filed under OBESITY
Day 31 to Day 38, still trying to lose weight (Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thur)
Friday February 1, 2008
Coffee, Oranges, Pita Pocket Sandwich with lettuce and vegetables, Pita Pocket Sandwich with 100g turkey breast and lite Mayo, Strawberry Milk (Quik), Melba Toast
- Total 30 points
- Still have 35 weekly flex points available
- No picture available
Saturday February 2, 2008
Coffee, Toasted Blueberry Bagel, Dinner at Sister-In-Law’s Birthday Party, including Meatballs and soup, and Robins Donuts
- Total 41 points
- over by 9 points, 26 flex points remain
- No picture available
Sunday February 3, 2008
Coffee, Puffed Wheat Cereal, with 2% milk, orange, Pita Pocket with 100g turkey breast, dry puffed wheat cereal, toasted blueberry bagel
- total 22 points
- under, still have 26 flext points remaining
- picture of my brunch
Monday February 4, 2008
Coffee, Orange, Pita Pocket with 50g Turkey, Chicken Fingers and Fries, Frozen Yogurt Ice Cream, with Syrop
-Total 52 points
- over by 20 points, 6 flex points remain
- Picture of my lunch
- Picture of my dinner
Tuesday February 5, 2008
Coffee, Weight Watchers toast, Oranges, Toasted Blueberry Bagel with Peanut Butter, Dry puffed wheat Cereal, Thinsation Peanut Butter Snaps, and rice cakes
- total 28 points
- under, still have 6 flex points left
- picture of my dinner
Wednesday February 6, 2008
Coffee, Toasted Blueberry Bagel with peanut butter, Dry Puffed Wheat cereal, Sundried Tomato Pita with 100g Turkey and lite mayo, Thinsation Chips Ahoy, President Choice Sweet & Salty Almond Bar, Reeses Puff Cereal with 2% milk
- Total 36 points
- over by 4 points, 2 flex points remain
- Picture of my dinner
Thursday February 7, 2008
Coffee, Reeses Puffs Cereal with 2% milk, Palatel Mongolian Stir Fry, Robins Donut Coffee, Soda Pop
- 28 points
- under - Week ended with 2 remaining flex points!
- No picture available today.
THE HART-SERIES: January 25-31, 2008
February 18, 2008 by HART 1-800-HART
Filed under OBESITY
Days Twenty-four to Thirty, still trying to lose weight (Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thur)
Sorry for delays … I am quite busy at the month-end time, and mid-month (for my offline work) and I accidentally uploaded my pictures to my laptop and deleted the pictures from my camera .. On my laptop, I deleted the pictures again, because I thought they were still in the camera. I assure everybody that I am still following my “diet” (at least counting the points), despite the slow posting in here and lack of pictures
Friday January 25, 2008
Coffee, Dry Puffed Wheat Cereal, oranges, Pasta Salad, Garden Salad with 100g turkey, red peppers, low fat Creamy poppyseed dressing, croutons, bacon bits, sunflower seeds, Flax cereal and Lucky Charms Cereal with 2% milk
- Total 29 points
- 35 Weekly flex points left
- No Picture Available
Saturday January 26, 2008
Coffee, and Tim Horton’s Coffee, Pizza Hut for dinner
>> We had stuffed crust Tuscani Pizza, and I calculated it to be 11 points per 1/12 of a Large Pizza .. I basically wolved down half that pizza (We moved my father-in-law out of his apartment to the Personal Care Home today)
- Total 68 points
- Over by 36 points - it wiped my weekly flex points .. -1 over weekly alotment
- No Picture available
Sunday January 27, 2008
Coffee, the last of HART’s Famous Pasta Salad, and then 73rd Birthday Dinner Party for my dad … we had Sobey’s Homemade Pizza, garlic toast and ice cream cake … Thanks to yesterday’s Pizza Hut for me eating in moderation, sort of!
- Total 46 points
- over by 14 points, now I’m -15 over weekly alotment
- No Picture available
Monday January 28, 2008
Coffee, Weight Watcher toast, Oranges, A&W Double Mozza Burger and Coffee, Thinsation Oreo cookies
- 33 Points today
- Over by 1 point, -16 points over alotment
- No picture available
Tuesday January 29, 2008
Coffee, Weight Watchers Toast with Peanut butter, Chunky Chicken Soup, Melba Toast, Quaker Rice Cake, Toasted Wheat Bagels with Peant Butter, Salad with red peppers, parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese, sunflower seeds, bacon bits, croutons and Caesor lo-cal dressing
-26 points today
- under daily limit, but still -16 over weekly alotment
- picture of my lunch
Wednesday January 30, 2008
Coffee, whole wheat homemade pancakes, oranges, dry cereal, toast with peanut butter - that’s it.
- Total 24 points
- under daily limit, but still -16 over weekly alotment
- No Picture available
Thursday January 31, 2008
Coffee, weight watchers toast, oranges, Chunky Chicken Soup, Melba Toast, 2 pita pocket sandwiches with 100g turkey breast with lite mayonaisse
- Total 29 points
- under daily limit, but still -16 over weekly alotment
- No picture available
THE HART-SERIES: January 19, 2008
January 20, 2008 by HART 1-800-HART
Filed under OBESITY
Day Eighteen .. watching my weight again … (Saturday)
Coffee - 1 point
Thinsation Oreo Cookies - 2 points
Sweet & Salty Almond Bar - 3 point
Thinsation Peanut Butter Cookies - 2 points
Salad with red peppers, bacon bits, sunflower seeds, croutons, 50g shaved turkey, dressing - 6 points
4 weight Watchers toasted shaved Turkey sandwiches (100g) with Mayo - 6 points
Chocolate Yogurt Icecream 1 cup - 4 points
w/low fat ice cream syrops - 2 points
>> 26 points today .. under
>> 34 splurge points still remain
I really like this Yogurt Icecream. My wife purchased some of those little yogurt treats that are in the fridge, and quite frankly I hate them! However, yogurt ice cream? I could fill my freezer with this stuff! It’s 2 points per 1/2 cup
Picture of my dinner
THE HART-SERIES: January 16, 2007
January 20, 2008 by HART 1-800-HART
Filed under OBESITY
Day fifteen watching my weight ..
Coffee - 1 point
4 Weight Watchers toast with Peanut Butter - 5 points
Cereal - Lucky Charms w/2% milk - 7 points
Salad with yellow peppers, sunflower seeds, bacon bits, caesar dressing, parmesan cheese - 5 points
Cereal - Lucky Charms for dinner! - 7 points
President’s Choice Sweet & Salty Almond bar - 3 points
>> Total Points - 28 points, still under
>> Still no available Splurge points this week
I’m a simple guy. Lucky Charms Cereal. Anytime 
Picture of my Dinner
THE HART-SERIES: January 15, 2008
January 20, 2008 by HART 1-800-HART
Filed under OBESITY
Day Fourteen watching my weight ..
Coffee - 1 point
4 Weight Watchers Whole Wheat toast, with Peanut Butter - 5 points
Melba toast, pack of 8 - 2 points
Nutrigrain Sweet & Salty Bar - 3 points
Organic Salad with red and Green Peppers, and spritz dressings - 2 point
4 Weight Watcher bread, with 100g shaved Turkey with Mayo sandwiches - 6 points
Bowl of cereal, dry as snack food - 4 points
>> Total points - 23 points, under
>> still no splurge points available this week
Hey! Have you tried the Weight Watcher’s Bread yet? Actually .. I was curious what it was like, but basically - it’s half size bread that’s half as thick. So, 2 slices is 1 point. I find I can use less peanut butter and you don’t need as much meats, etc (or else the bread will fall apart).
Picture of my Dinner
THE HART-SERIES: January 13, 2008
January 15, 2008 by HART 1-800-HART
Filed under OBESITY
Day Twelve watching my weight…
Coffee - 1 point
4 whole wheat toast with margarine, cinnamon and brown sugar - 11 points
Melba toast - 2 points
2 Quaker Rice Cakes - 2 points
Salad - Red and Green Pepper, white onions, hard boiled egg, croutons, mini marshmallows, bacon bits, low fat poppyseed dressing - 9 points
>> Total 25 points
>> no splurge points remain
That’s maxxie peaking into the picture at the bottom .. I think I presented this salad quite well, instead of dumping the single colored peppers in the bowl I spread it around the outer edge to give me a fluffier organic salad and room for the other toppings!
Picture of my breakfast
Picture of my dinner
THE HART-SERIES: January 11, 2008
January 15, 2008 by HART 1-800-HART
Filed under OBESITY
Day 10 watching my weight …
Coffee - 1 point
Thinsations cookies - 2 points
2 Rice Cakes @1 pt each - 2 points
Tim Hortons Coffee w/Flavor Shot Butter Caramel - 2 points
Salad with Red Peppers, bacon bits, croutons, dressing, 50g turkey, parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese - 8 points
2 Whole Wheat toast with Peanut butter - 4 points
>> Total 19 points today, under
>> It’s a new week today - total 32 splurge points remain!
I am totally into this new Organic Field Greens Salad from Superstore over the regular garden salads I have been eating for the past couple of years!~ It’s a nice change! That whole container was $4.69 and it’s quite cheaper, and its expiry date seems to be twice as long as regular salad. PS: the noname Toasted Sesame vinegrette dressing is also quite tasty.
You need a good oil on your salad. Plus 8 cups of water per day. Plus fruit (which I lack in my diet)
Picture of my dinner
