Covenant Natural Health Care

Memorial Day Weekend Recipe Ideas for the Grill

It's the weekend that officially kicks off summer. The neighborhood pool is opening, gardens are being planted, patio furniture is being cleaned off and the grills are being fired up. And, more than likely, you'll be attending one or more cookouts this weekend.

Let's focus on eating healthy this weekend and bringing delicious, nutritious meals to share with others. I've compiled a list of several recipes that look delicious for you to try.

Burgers:
• Mushroom & caramelized onion burger
• Tasty turkey burgers

Steak:
• Grilled steak with fresh corn salad
• Chili-rubbed steaks & pan salsa

Potatoes:
• Grilled salt & vinegar potatoes
• Lebanese potato salad

Kabobs:
• Chicken kabobs Mexicana

Salads:
• Healthy macaroni salad
• Spinach and strawberry salad
• Creamy New York deli coleslaw (omit the sugar and add a few raisins for sweetness)
• Garden pasta salad (use whole wheat or rice pasta)

Here are several tips for eating healthy this weekend:
1. Skip the bread. Top burgers with fresh cheese, tomatoes, caramelized onions, etc ...
2. Fill up on vegetables and protein. When it comes to eating dessert you'll be less tempted to over-indulge.
3. Drink lots of water and pass on the skip drinks. Bring your own iced tea or homemade lemonade to share.
4. Snack on fresh vegetables and hummus instead of potato chips.
5. Seasonings and marinades are often loaded with MSG and sugars. Use fresh herbs instead.

Have a safe and healthy weekend!

Healthy New Years Eve Recipe Ideas

Bring a healthy, guilt-free dish to your New Year's Eve gathering: 

• White bean dip with homemade, whole-wheat pita chips

• Hot spinach & artichoke dip (use raw, soaked beans instead of canned beans)

• Lamb meatballs

• Easy chicken-mushroom quesadillas

• Stuffed mushrooms

• Black-eyed pea salad (make your own Italian dressing)

• Gluten-free granola

• Honey-sweetened oat cookies with a chocolate (or raspberry jam) center

Take the stress out of healthy holiday food preparation

Typically, I find holidays to be stressful with all the traveling to parties, cooking, and cleaning house. And, preparing healthy, wholesome foods during the holidays can add unnecessary stress if not planned in advance. Unfortunately stress can often interfere with the healing process and weaken our immune system

Let's take a few hours each day this week to prepare for celebrating Thanksgiving, rather than stressing out and preparing everything the night before or the day of. Let's also not forget to take some time out for ourselves to rest, relax, and make a list of what we're most grateful for.

Here are some suggestions for preparing healthy food in advance:

MONDAY:
• Make mushroom soup for the green bean casserole
• Prepare cranberry sauce and put in fridge until ready to serve
• Make sure your turkey is in the fridge thawing out (it typically takes a frozen turkey a few days to thaw)

TUESDAY:
• snap ends off of green beans and put back in the fridge until you're ready to prepare green bean casserole
• Make dessert (pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, or maybe carob cupcakes)

WEDNESDAY:
• Make green bean casserole and store in fridge until ready to bake (30-40 minutes before serving turkey)
• Make stuffing and store in fridge until ready to stuff the turkey
• Slice onions and make crispy onions for the green bean casserole.

THURSDAY:
• Stuff and prepare turkey, then bake. Temperature for a cooked turkey is 180 degrees.
• When the turkey is done, take the juices and fat and make homemade gravy.
• Make mashed potatoes or a healthy sweet potato casserole.
• Bake green bean casserole 30-40 minutes for dinner time.
• Warm whole grain rolls or bread just before serving.

Now, hopefully you aren't preparing ALL of these things, and you are delegating to friends and family. We have to remember that we get together and celebrate the holidays with those we are thankful for—wouldn't it be nice to spend lots of time with our loved ones rather than in the kitchen? Inviting others to help prepare healthy options is a good way to make sure everyone enjoys a healthy holiday with lots of love and laughter.

Remember, the less processed your holiday fare, the better you'll feel after the holiday. So, skip the sugar and make good choices full of protein, fruits and vegetables and whole grains. If you need a quick reminder of all the unhealthy ingredients in typical, processed holiday foods, check out this free download.

Recipes: Grillin' Out

Hello and Happy Labor Day! I hope you are having a really relaxing and enjoyable long weekend. 

I find holidays and cookouts to be particularly hard to cook for and eat at. No one wants to spend a lot of time in the kitchen on a gorgeous day and the food should be finger-foods and quick bites. But how do you pull people away from nitrate-filled hot dogs and ketchup filled with sugar? Well, it's not hard, you just have to fix healthy, delicious alternatives so people won't miss the not-so-good-for-you-stuff.

I've compiled a list of some good cookout recipes that will not tie you to the kitchen and allow you to soak up some sunshine and good conversations.

• Homemade Potato Salad

• Potato Salad with Warm Onion Dressing

• Homemade BBQ Sauce

• Chipotle-Lime Chicken Skewers

• Mushroom and Caramelized Onion Burger (Skip the bread)

• Watermelonade

• Grilled Peaches

• Mini-Turkey Burgers

Enjoy your day!