Little Changes

.. so I thought I would do a quick post of a few subtle changes we have made to the diet to kick out some cholesterol and to also reduce the fat intake ...

Cholesterol Free Mayo, made with Canola oil, none of the Mayo eaters in the house have noticed the change from a flavor stand point. It has zero Cholesterol and 7% fat as opposed 15% .. the temptation of course is to go ahead and eat twice as much, which defeats the purpose all together.

Earth Balance (whipped version is our favorite) has replaced butter and again there have yet to be any complaints from anyone in the house. I am not sure of the exact numbers, I know we kicked out the Cholesterol and some of the fat.

We have also been buying raw sunflower seeds and toasting them in a non stick frying pan, yum from the adults.

Home made Pesto .. lots of basil, pine nuts and olive oil and omitting the cheese again no noticeable change in flavor and great tossed on for us brown rice pasta or used as a Pizza sauce. I usually make a big batch and then freeze it in an ice cube tray so I can just plop out a cube or two to toss in a recipe.

Oh and yummy homemade croutons .. for us we use our favorite gluten free bread, though you could use any bread you love, cut in to cubes, toss lightly with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with a seasoning of choice and bake at 350 until the start to get brown and crispy !!!

And so far the lowest cheese for Cholesterol has been a grated lite asiago .. actually coming in at zero!!

Mexican Pasta

... one would think with these two opening recipes that we were eating a lot of Mexican and likely we are. I suspect the reason being is that I understand the spices and so am able to make it tasty for the finicky fellow I call my husband.

This one I found using the All Recipes App on my Iphone .. great cause you can choose the style of meal and a few different ingredients. It also lists the cholesterol and other contents.

This one got two thumbs up in our house .. the other two thumbs were eating "naked" noodles.

The only change I made was to use Brown Rice Pasta .. in a spaghetti shape ..

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound seashell pasta
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup sweet corn kernels
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 1/4 cup sliced black olives
• 1 1/2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Cook onions and pepper in oil until lightly browned, 10 minutes. Stir in corn and heat through. Stir in black beans, tomatoes, salsa, olives, taco seasoning and salt and pepper and cook until thoroughly heated, 5 minutes.
3. Toss sauce with cooked pasta and serve.