Get Back on Track Healthy Cabbage Soup

By Jodee Weiland

Years ago I made a great cabbage soup whenever I felt the need to eat a vegetarian meal…a meal that would be healthy and delicious! Sometimes when we travel, it’s hard to stay as healthy as we would like when eating out. Cabbage soup is my way of getting things back to where they need to be after traveling. I love cabbage, and there’s no doubt I love soup, but this cabbage soup has so much more value for me because it is one of the healthiest soups I make. My Get Back on Track Healthy Cabbage Soup is my version of the old Cabbage Soup Diet with some kick!

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The old Cabbage Soup Diet had a day by day formula to follow for seven days. Since I’m not big on seven-day diets or any diets for that matter, I love the idea of cabbage soup, but done my way! For one thing, I believe that if you eat healthy most of the time and consistently, you will get to and maintain the appropriate weight for you. Of course, you may also have to work out, either walking, jogging, aerobics, or something, but keeping weight down can be achieved. If you eat right and exercise, you can be the weight that’s appropriate for your age and gender. But once in a while we get off track, like when we’re on vacation, and that’s the time to eat even healthier. That’s when I pull out my Get Back on Track Healthy Cabbage Soup!

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Get Back on Track Healthy Cabbage Soup

  • 1  tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup celery, cleaned and sliced
  • 2 cups carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 2 small to medium yellow onions sliced
  • 2 small or 1 large garlic clove chopped
  • 5 fresh basil leaves, cleaned and chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • 1 cabbage head, cored and cut up
  • 2 – 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes with juice
  • 5 – 14.5 ounce cans chicken or vegetable fat-free broth
  • Fresh ground black pepper to taste
  • Hot sauce to taste (optional)

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Heat olive oil in a large pot, and saute the celery, carrots, onions, garlic, basil leaves, and parsley until slightly cooked. Add the cut up cabbage to the pot and mix together. Then add the diced tomatoes with the juice, and the chicken or vegetable broth. Add ground black pepper to taste and if you choose to do so, add hot sauce to taste. With hot sauce, remember that it can always be added later to meet the preferences of all who are eating.

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https://learnfromyesterday.com

Bring the mixture to a low boil, and then cover the pot and lower the heat to simmer. Simmer for 40 to 45 minutes or until all vegetables are cooked. Once done, you are ready to serve the soup. NOTE: If you’re not using this soup to get back on track, you can add some peeled potatoes cut up or some rice.

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My Get Back on Track Healthy Cabbage Soup is not only healthy, it is delicious as well. This is a great way to get back on track, and you will have enough for lunches or dinners within the next few days. This meal and some regular exercise should make it easy to get back on track. I like to have my soup at dinner with a nice Chianti, which I feel only serves to enhance the flavor, but with or without, you will find it satisfying and full of great flavor. For those who don’t need to get back on track, a nice multigrain loaf of crusty bread goes well with this soup. You may even want to add some grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese. However you choose to have it, you are going to love this soup, so enjoy!

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Thick Green Smoothie Magic with Almonds

By Jodee Weiland

Lately, I’ve been trying out some thicker smoothies that would be filling and could take the place of a meal while being nutritious and healthy as well. One thicker smoothie I put together was especially tasty. I think this smoothie was so good because of the addition of almonds. It’s much thicker than my regular smoothie, but the almonds also make it more filling. Almonds are heart healthy and since I love them, I felt certain they would add something great to the flavor. I was right, and the result was my Thick Green Smoothie Magic with Almonds!

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This smoothie has fresh mango, apple, and unsweetened pineapple juice, all of which have numerous vitamins and nutrients. It also has frozen spinach for a green vegetable, which gives it even more nutritional value. By including almonds I’ve add protein, because an ounce of almonds contains about one eighth of our necessary daily protein. The inclusion of almonds make this smoothie heart healthy and gives it the thick consistency I was looking for, making it more filling and a possible substitute for a breakfast or a mid-day meal without bread. That is exactly what I was trying to create with this new smoothie!

https://learnfromyesterday.comThick Green Smoothie Magicwith Almonds

  • 1 Granny Smith apple unpeeled, cored, and cut up
  • 1 cup fresh frozen mango slices
  • 1/2 cup almonds
  • 1 and 1/2 cups unsweetened pineapple juice
  • 1 cup frozen spinach

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In a blender, blend together the apple, the mango, the almonds, and the juice until smooth. Add in the frozen spinach and once again blend until smooth, but thick. This recipe will make approximately two ten ounce servings. It can also be made less thick by adding additional juice, if preferred.

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My Thick Green Smoothie Magic with Almonds is delicious and very healthy! This thicker smoothie could easily take the place of a breakfast or a mid-day meal without bread, while still satisfying your hunger. It has great nutritional value, which includes twelve grams of fiber and about 15 grams of protein. There are 404 calories in one serving or half of the recipe, but for a meal this is relatively low. High in fiber, protein, and nutrients, this smoothie will satisfy your hunger, while keeping you healthy, so enjoy!

Healthy Parmesan Hasselback Potatoes

By Jodee Weiland

Some people feel that having a potato with a meal is going to cause weight gain, but the reality is that it isn’t the potato that does this. What does this is what we put on those potatoes and how much we have. One way to avoid adding the wrong things to potatoes is a healthy hasselback potato made using olive oil and seasonings that will add all the flavor you need. A hasselback potato done right needs very little salt or none at all because the flavor will come from the seasonings. And if you want a potato with some cheese flavor, have a hasselback potato sprinkled with grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese. Done this way, my Healthy Parmesan Hasselback Potatoes are both delicious and healthy!

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Eaten as baked and seasoned in the recipe, these hasselback potatoes will be both delicious and healthy. It’s when people add sour cream, butter, bacon bits, some higher calorie cheeses, and more that you have problems. Hasselback potatoes done using this recipe don’t need all those additional toppings, because they will taste wonderful without them. You won’t even miss the idea of butter when you use an extra virgin olive oil, as I do in this recipe. You really don’t even need extra salt, and if you do use the sea salt, be sure to do so lightly because the Parmesan cheese has salt as well. Once you try potatoes this way, you will be a believer for sure!

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Healthy Parmesan Hasselback Potatoes

  • 4 large russet potatoes or potatoes of your choice
  • 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • Sea salt and ground black pepper to taste
  • Paprika to taste
  • Onion powder to taste
  • Garlic powder to taste
  • 4 tablespoons Parmesan Reggiano cheese grated to taste
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped chives

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Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Wash and scrub the potato skins well with a vegetable brush. Dry the potatoes and slice them across the width 1/8″ to 1/4″, but do not cut through the potato. Stop your slice before cutting all the way through creating a sliced potato with the bottom still in one piece. Place the potatoes in a baking dish that has been sprayed lightly with olive oil. With a food brush, brush about half the olive oil over the top of the four potatoes. Lightly sprinkle the potatoes with sea salt and black pepper to taste. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes.

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After 30 minutes, remove the potatoes from the oven to brush them once again with the remainder of the olive oil. Sprinkle the onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika over the potatoes to taste. Remember to season lightly because a little bit goes a long way with flavor.  Bake for another 20 minutes or longer if needed to bake thoroughly.

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https://learnfromyesterday.comAfter 20 minutes, check to see if the potatoes are almost done. If not, bake for 5 to 10 minutes longer. Then remove from the oven and sprinkle the potatoes with Parmesan Reggiano cheese. Put them back into the oven and finish baking for another 10 minutes longer. When done, sprinkle the tops with fresh chopped chives and serve.

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https://learnfromyesterday.com

My Healthy Parmesan Hasselback Potatoes are both delicious and healthy! Serve them with a few fresh chopped chives sprinkled across the top. These potatoes go well with any meat, poultry, or fish entree and another vegetable. We love them because they are very tasty and healthy at the same time. We never need to add on any extras to these potatoes because they are full of great flavor. Give them a try, and enjoy!