Easy, Nutritious Snacks for Busy People

This week has been extremely hectic for me and hectic weeks call for quick and easy snacks.

Here are some of my favorites. Enjoy!

• Carrot Sticks
• Homemade Strawberry Smoothie (strawberries, plain low-fat Greek yogurt, ground flax seeds, a couple tablespoons of fresh squeezed orange juice (or half an orange), vanilla extract and honey)
• Blueberries, vanilla extract and plain low-fat Greek Yogurt
• An Apple
• Spring Mix Salad tossed with a chicken breast, tomatoes, cucumbers and a touch of goats milk feta cheese, a tablespoon of almond slices and dressed with balsamic vinegar.
• A bowl of oatmeal (quick oats) made with soymilk or dairy milk. Top with blueberries or raisins, cinnamon and ginger.
• Toast with Cashew Butter
• Half a Peanut Butter and Honey Sandwich
  

Amy's Hidden Vegetable Lasagna Extreme

I made up this recipe last night because I was sick of salad and searching for a tasty way to eat all of the wonderful fall veggies I'd just bought. Try it. I think you'll really like it!

Amy's Hidden Vegetable Lasagna Extreme

* Use a large lasagna pan because this makes a LOT!
Total Prep Time: About an hour, plus or minus
Cooking Time: 40 minutes for the lasagna, all day for the sauce.

Justin's Pasta Sauce
You can make this ahead of time. You can even freeze it and thaw it as needed. If you're making this last minute, try to cook the sauce for at least one hour so the flavors begin to mesh.

Put the following ingredients in a crockpot (you can cook them on a stove, too, but you have to be more careful about stirring so it doesn't burn):

3 cans of tomato puree
2 cans of diced tomatoes
2 red, green and yellow bell peppers
1 onion (white or yellow)
A pinch of pepper
1T basil
1/2 pound of lean Italian sausage, browned and drained. We found some called Polidori that's awesome. I think it's only sold in Colorado, though.
Cook on medium for several hours.

While that's cooking you can make:

The Lasagna:
Prepare enough whole grain whole wheat lasagna noodles to line the bottom of your pan.
Prepare 1 Spaghetti Squash (remove seeds, cut in half, steam till soft or bake till soft, then scrape squash from the rind)
1 Eggplant cut into round pieces
1 Zucchini cut into round pieces
Black pepper to taste
Pepperoni (1 package of large, round pepperoni slices)
12 ounce package of Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese, grated

The Ricotta Filling:
1 - 12 ounce container of part-skim Ricotta Cheese (can use skim milk cottage cheese, too)
A small handful of grated Mozzarella Cheese
A couple pinches of good, grated Parmigiano Cheese (NOT the powdered junk in the can!)
1 T basil
A Pinch of Pepper
2 Eggs

Beat the eggs until combined. Add the other ingredients and stir until mixed. Refrigerate until you're ready to assemble the lasagna.

Assemble in this order (or however you please):

Spray the bottom of your pan with cooking spray or use a little oil or line it with parchment paper so the food doesn't stick.

Lasagna Noodles
Pasta Sauce
Small dollups of Ricotta Cheese spread over the sauce
Eggplant rounds, grilled until golden brown (Don't use oil, just throw them on the grill. You can probably skip this step if you'd like.)
Pepperoni Slices
Pasta Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Pasta Sauce
Zucchini Slices
Ricotta Cheese Mixture
Any Leftover Pepperoni
Pasta Sauce
Spaghetti Squash
Pasta Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Parmigiano Cheese

Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown. Serve with a mixed greens salad. Freeze leftovers for future meals.

This recipe appears to have a lot of cheese in it, but since it makes a LOT of lasagna, per serving there isn't a huge amount of cheese. And, of course, you can always reduce the amount of cheese used.

Stay Healthy During Cold and Flu Season

Cold and flu season are officially here, so here are a few tips on how to stay healthy:

Don't Catch a Cold

1. Get enough sleep which means allowing yourself to take a short nap if you feel rundown and/or tired.

2. Get plenty of exercise.

3. Try to keep stress levels low.

4. Wash your hands often.

5. If you're right handed, then touch things like door handles and community utensils with your left hand. Better yet, wrap a piece of paper towel around the utensil and then grab it with your left hand, then wash or disinfect your hands before you eat.

6. Eat your fruits and vegetables and maintain a healthy diet. (Perhaps easier said than done during treat season when junk food begins to replace healthier fare...)

7. Take a daily multivitamin.

8. Wipe down your phones, computers, mp3 players, etc with an antibacterial wipe.

9. Wash coffee/tea cups/mugs and water bottles often.

10. Do your best to stay away from sick people. (Easier said than done.) And don't be afraid to tell someone to please cover their nose and mouth when they cough and sneeze.

11. Stay away from doctor's offices and hospitals. Think about it, where's the first people go when they get sick...(Go only if you absolutely you have to.)

Reduce the Duration of the Cold

1. The moment you feel an inkling of a cold coming on, begin using a warm saline nasal wash. Wash your nose out two or three times a day. My allergist once told me this is the most ancient cold and flu remedy on the planet. It works and it works well.

2. Drink lots and lots of herbal tea. I love Traditional Medicinals Herbal Throat Coat and Herba Tussin teas. Not only are they soothing, but they taste wonderful. Add some honey.

3. Eat homemade chicken soup. It's quick and easy to whip up. Throw frozen mixed vegetables into a crockpot with a diced chicken breast, onion, garlic, chicken broth, pepper and thyme. Let cook for several hours. Add rice or noodles and serve.

4. Eat plenty of oranges and other citrus fruits.

5. Sleep, read books, veg out watching television or movies and get more sleep. The point is to relax and give your body a chance to let your body do what it does best, fight germs.

6. If you have a fever, let it burn (within reason). Fevers are your body's natural way of fighting bugs.

7. Soak in a warm bath to help clear up your sinuses (provided you aren't running a huge fever).

8. Breathe steam.

9. Drink plenty of water.

A note: Some people swear by Zinc and Vitamin C supplements. My thought is that you can get plenty of Vitamin C through your diet. Most fruits, vegetables and juices contain huge amounts of Vitamin C and this Vitamin C is much more bioavailable than Vitamin C in supplements and these foods also contain a variety of other nutrients the body needs.

Also, the body can't process huge amounts of Vitamin C all at once, so any excess is excreted through your urine. Worse, what most people don't realize is that too much Vitamin C can cause serious health problems such as kidney stones, vitamin B-12 deficiencies and more, so why waste money on a Vitamin C supplement when nature gives us all we need?

As for Zinc? The jury's still out. Some studies show a reduction in duration, but not symptoms, other studies show zero difference between taking zinc and taking a placebo. If you're interested, you can check out the Dietary Supplements Fact Sheet at the National Institutes of Health.

Here's my mostly crackpot take on loading up on supplements when you're sick. My theory (and I am NO EXPERT nor am I a doctor), is that when you're sick you don't have a huge amount of energy. Your body can either use that energy fighting the cold or trying to digest and process huge amounts of supplements (most of which will end up in your urine anyway). Personally, I'd rather have my body use all the energy it has to fight the cold.

Don't Spread the Cold

1. If you're sick STAY HOME! Plain and simple.

2. If you do go out, COVER YOUR NOSE AND MOUTH when you cough or sneeze. The best way to do this is to cough and sneeze into tissues or paper towels. Coughing and sneezing into your elbow, as our brilliant government officials suggest, is worthless because your elbow's not big enough to cover both your nose and mouth at the same time.

3. Immediately wash your hands or use an antibacterial wipe to clean your hands after that cough or sneeze or wipe your nose.

4. Keep your distance from other people.

5. Grab door handles and other community objects with a clean paper towel to create as much of a barrier between your germs and that object as possible.

6. Wipe down surfaces you come in contact with with an antibacterial wipe.

7. Properly discard your tissues.

8. Did I mention stay home and get better.

9. Don't share food, cups, glasses, water bottles or utensils.

10. And now for my favorite, for the love of God DO NOT SPIT LUGGIES ANYWHERE IN PUBLIC!

So there you have it. Lots of ways to stay healthy during cold and flu season. I hope you make it through this season without catching a bug! Be well!