A Refreshing Summer Salad

A delicious salad using up veggies from the garden for your dinner table tonight...

2 large cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
3 green onions, sliced
1 large carrot, peeled and shredded or very thinly sliced
1/8 cup fresh mint, julienned
1/8 cup reduced fat Bleu Cheese or Feta Cheese
1 tablespoon raisins, chopped
Juice of one lime
1/8 tablespoon of chili powder (optional)
1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese

In a large bowl, combine first 6 ingredients. Add lime juice, chili powder and salt to taste, mix well. Chill in the frig. Sprinkly grated parmesan cheese for garnish. Enjoy!

Nutritional Info: (for 2 very large servings) 127 calories, 3.3 grams fat, 23.3 grams carbs, 3.8 grams fiber, 5.5 grams protein
(for 4 servings...only 63 calories)

A Cure for the Sugar Bug

Fourth of July is over. Thank goodness...well, I'm kidding...kind of. I love the fourth, but the Fourth for us is a weekend filled with bar-b-ques, rodeo tickets, time on the boat and plenty of occassions that just happen to include street vendors selling the most tempting things. Think: elephant ears, corn dogs and the like. Well, I do my best to stay away from the evil vendors, but a bite of the hubby's elephant ear, and a lick of my daughter's ice cream gives me the sugar bug. And once it bites, I have a hard time stopping at a "bite." So I find it the most easy to decide to cut any and all sugar out of my diet for a week...then voila! I'm cured. The craving are gone. (I don't count fruit as a sugar...as it gets processed differently by our bodies than refined sugar.)
I like to make a big batch of veggie soup during this week. It helps keep me full and seems to cut the cravings for junk food. Coupled with eating this soup and plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits, I feel wonderful and energized! After about 3 days, I have no sugar cravings at all! Try it as a first course to dinner and I bet you'll feel fuller and satisfied sooner.

Veggie Soup
1/2 bag of cabbage and broccoli mix already shredded
1/2 bunch of green onions, white and green parts, diced
1 large can of diced tomatoes (make sure it's just tomatoes, with no added anything)
1 large green pepper, diced
1 large red pepper, diced...you can roast it first to give the soup even more flavor.
1 yellow pepper, diced
1/2 head of green cabbage, chopped
2 carrots, diced
1 bunch of celery, tops included, chopped
8 ounces of mushrooms, sliced
8-12 ounces baby portabella mushrooms, sliced
1 package of Lipton's onion soup mix
30 ounces of additional water
Italian flat leaf parsley for garnish
(I also like adding a sprinkle of red pepper flakes on top of my bowl as garnish as well.)

Add everything except the parsley to a very large pot. Boil for about 12-15 minutes and simmer for another hour. Great recipe to stick in the frig and then reheat when you are ready.