Simple Skillet Vegetables Recipe

This recipe comes together especially quickly when you have a frozen vegetable blend tucked in your freezer, or you may substitute with some fresh, chopped vegetables instead.

Serves 4. Ingredients

  • 1 bag of frozen vegetable blend of your choice
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
  • 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp. dry-ranch-dressing mix, lemon-pepper seasoning or seasoning blend of your choice

Directions

Place the vegetables in a skillet over medium heat, add 1/2 cup water and cook, covered, for 5 minutes. Stir; cover again and cook until tender, 5 more minutes. Drain and discard the water, then stir in the butter, lemon juice and ranch-dressing mix. Cook, uncovered, until the butter has melted and the sauce has heated thoroughly. Serve hot.

Green Beans Recipe

This is a recipe from Oprah.com by Heather, who says it’s the only way her son will eat green beans. She’s been making these for him since he was just a boy. The tomatoes, bacon and onion season the dish to perfection and make a truly irresistible green-bean side dish.
Serves 4 Ingredients

  • 3 to 5 slices bacon
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 can (29 ounces) green beans, drained
  • 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, with liquid
  • 1/2 tsp. salt (optional)
  • 1/4 tsp. ground, black pepper (optional)
Directions:

Line a plate with paper towels.
Place the bacon in a large skillet over medium high heat and cook, flipping at least once, until cooked through and crispy, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the cooked bacon to the paper towel-lined plate and carefully pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease from the skillet (saving the rest for another use).
Add the onion to the bacon grease in the skillet and saute until tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the green beans, tomatoes and salt and pepper, if desired, and reduce the temperature to low. Crumble the bacon into the skillet, stir to combine and simmer until heated through, 15 minutes. Serve hot.

4 Things Every Woman Should Know About Salt

You may not need to limit your sodium intake as much as you think. Salt has long been one of the great villains of our diet, and the rules of engagement have come down to one rather bland pronouncement: Eat less of it. This, of course, is easier said than done. On average, adults consume 3,463 milligrams of sodium per day (50 percent more than the recommended maximum of 2,300 milligrams for adults 50 and younger) and more than twice the 1,500 milligrams suggested as the upper limit for roughly half of the adult population (including everyone over 50; people with diabetes, chronic kidney disease, or hypertension). But now comes a splashy report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), commissioned by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, concluding that scaling back to 1,500 milligrams may not be necessary. Is the war on salt ending? Here’s what you should know:

No Need to Go So Slow

“There’s no data (none) showing that curtailing sodium intake below 2,300 milligrams provides better health outcomes,” says Brian Strom, MD, chair of the IOM’s report committee. The report looked at 34 studies and four clinical trials that tracked the health of people consuming different amounts of salt over the course of up to 18 years. The conclusion: There isn’t enough convincing evidence that people (even those in high-risk groups) who consume less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day have fewer heart attacks or strokes than those who consume higher amounts.

Low-Salt Diets May Even Be Harmful

Many people forget that sodium is an essential nutrient serving a multitude of functions in the body, including helping control heart rate and aiding the transmission of signals in the brain. And too little salt may pose surprising health risks. One 2011 study, which tracked 28,880 people with heart disease or diabetes, found that those who consumed less than 2,000 milligrams of sodium a day were 37 percent more likely to die of heart disease than those who consumed 4,000 to 6,000 milligrams. As sodium intake drops, blood levels of cholesterol and fat can increase, escalating cardiovascular issues.

But…What About Blood Pressure?

For years studies have repeatedly shown that a low-sodium diet can reduce blood pressure, but the IOM’s findings looked beyond risk factors. “No one disputes that lowering sodium intake has a modestly positive effect on blood pressure,” says Michael Alderman, MD, a professor emeritus at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. “But that one benefit doesn’t offset consequences, including increased cholesterol and insulin resistance that can come with cutting almost all the salt from our diet.”

Bottom Line: We Need a Happier Medium

The fact remains that most of us are consuming well above 2,300 milligrams of sodium, and the consequences can be serious: Prehypertensive people who consumed 3,600 milligrams or more per day for up to 18 months were about twice as likely to have heart attacks, strokes, or heart surgeries 15 years later than people who reduced their consumption to 2,300 milligrams, according to a study in the journal BMJ. Ultimately, everyone should meet in the middle. Most people should still cut back, says Strom, but a more realistic guideline could help us reap the health benefits that salt has to offer, too.

How Spicy Foods Make Your Tummy Flatter

Surprise! They can help slim you down, clear your mind and—a whole lot more.

They Can Kick-start—and Keep Up—Any Diet

The spice: Hot peppers (including cayenne, chili, jalapeño)

How they do it: People consume about 75 fewer calories after eating red chili peppers compared to after eating bland food.

Researchers at Purdue University also found that chemicals in peppers called capsaicinoids (the origin of the burning sensation) reduce cravings for fatty, salty and sweet foods. (The catch: This was true only for people unaccustomed to the heat with the exception of diehard chilli heads)

If that’s not enough, consider the mounting evidence that when the capsaicinoids reach the gut, they signal receptors to increase the number and activity of the body’s “brown fat” cells, which increase core temperature and burn calories faster than usual.

How much to use: At least 1/2 teaspoon of hot peppers per serving.

#Adapted from Oprah.com

They May Clear Your Mind (Literally)

herbs

The spices: Rosemary, spearmint, cinnamon

How they do it: Although the research is still in its earliest stages, there’s promise that these spices could delay the onset—or reduce symptoms—of Alzheimer’s disease. In one study, high-dose rosemary and spearmint extracts improved memory in mice suffering from age-related decline.

(The antioxidants they contain may reduce stress in brain regions that controls memory and learning) In in vitro lab studies, naturally occurring chemicals in cinnamon (also known as cinnamaldehyde and epicatechin) prevented neural “tangles” similar to those in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.

How much to use: Undetermined. Since the research is in its earliest experimental stages, researchers recommend using only amounts commonly used in cooking.
What to try: Couscous with Raisins, Cinnamon and Pine Nuts.

#Adapted from Oprah.com.