Shrimp Stew - OMG Goodness!

One of my favorite magazines is Body & Soul. Every issue has great articles on nutrition, excercise and all around healthy living. In the latest issue, I found this recipe for Shrimp Stew and it's just about the best thing I've made in a long time. Now, in the article, they are saying how great shrimp are for you, and they are, but they don't give the nutrition info on this recipe which seems unusual. By my calculations, per serving it looks something like 350-400 calories, 10-13 g fat, 33 g protein, and 22 g carbs. That of course depends on what kind of sausage you use. I point out the sausage because that's where you'll find the most fat and sodium, and is where you'll have the most opportunity to make this a little bit healthier (every little bit helps, right!).

The recipe calls for italian chicken sausage, but I used chicken andouille sausage and it was excellent. You could use most any kind of sausage and it would be good, but you might want to opt for one with low sodium if you can find it because the real downside of this dish is the amount of sodium. I've looked at several chicken and turkey sausages on the market, and the ones I've found range from a low of 340 mg to a high of 1450 mg of sodium for the 2 links that are called for or 85 - 363 mg per serving, depending on link size and what's mixed in during the processing of it. The maximum recommended daily intake for adults is 2400 mg per day as shown on food labels, but a reduced sodium diet would be around 1500 mg per day. So you can see with the higher sodium sausages you could be getting a substantial portion of your daily allotment in this one dish. Be sure to look at the labels! If you are watching sodium and/or want to eliminate the sausage altogether you may want to substitute cubed chicken or turkey and add some more seasoning to give it that country stew flavor. You can easily make your own seasoning mix from fresh or dried herbs like oregano, rosemary, garlic, thyme, chili powder, various peppercorns and seeds like fennel, celery seed, etc.. Just experiment until you find what you like - my favorite way to cook.

With the potatoes, carrots, onions, and garlic you've got a rich tasting, great stew! Put a salad with it and you've got an easy meal. With any luck you'll have some leftovers, and this is one of those things that gets better overnight.

All this talk of Shrimp Stew is making me want to head to the kitchen and start cooking a batch! Enjoy!

Recipes for Dinner - Salmon Pinwheels, Cannillini Bean Salad, and Steamed Asparagus

Tonight I fixed a healthy meal for my Dad and I and thought it was a good one to share. I got some great Salmon Pinwheels stuffed with a Spinach stuffing at Trader Joe's (obviously not in Albany!) and served them with Cannellini Bean Salad and some steamed asparagus. Pretty simple and it took about 30 minutes to prepare. Maybe Rachael should do this on her 30 minute meals!

Salmon Pinwheels - ok, these came from Trader Joe's and are one of the main reasons I go there! If you don't have a TJ's near you, just use some plain salmon filets with your favorite seasonings. I thawed them out in their package in some cold water which took about 15 minutes. I sauted some garlic (2 small cloves) in olive oil (1 tblsp) and then put the Salmon Pinwheels in. I seared them on both sides and then put a little white wine in (about 1/2 cup of Savignon Blanc)and simmered for maybe 5 minutes. Done!

Cannellini Bean Salad - this is a recipe that I got off of the Food Network and is tried and true. It's an Emeril recipe, so you know it's good! Everytime I serve it it is a big hit and there's never any left - always a good sign. The official Food Network recipe name is Cannellini Bean Salad with Parsley Pesto. If you don't want to mess with making an official pesto with the food processor, it works just as good to chop the parsley by hand and mix it with the garlic and olive oil. I use italian parsley instead of the curly leafed kind. This takes about 10 minutes to prepare, but like a lot of things tastes better after it sits in the refrigerator for a little while. Try to make it ahead, but don't sweat it if you can't.

Steamed Asparagus - no biggie. Chop off the ends of the asparagus spears. Boil some water. If you have a steamer, use that, otherwise, you can just put a little water in the bottom of a pan and put in the asparagus for about 5-10 minutes. Steam it until it's al dente - just barely done. You don't want to over do it or it gets mushy. Better to be underdone than overdone.

And there you have it! It has ample protein from both the salmon and beans, good fiber from the beans and the asparagus along with an assortment of other nutrients like folate and vitamin K among others. You'll get some good fat from the Salmon and the olive oil used in the beans, and ample complex carbs.

I attempted to take a photo, and I realize I don't get any points for presentation, but hey, this is a normal home, not a TV set!

The search for the perfect travel yoga mat

I'm really getting excited about my trip to Acapulco now and am counting the days! I found out yesterday that I need to plan to take my own yoga mat. That oh so easy to pack yoga mat! Won't fit in my suitcase, won't fit in my backpack, what's a yogini to do? Shop!! So I started looking online for a mat and a bag to carry it. Of course I have a yoga mat already, actually I have 2, but neither will do for this. I need something light weight, that will roll up small, yet will still have enough cushion for my old bones, it needs to be at least 72" and it needs to be eco friendly. Neither of the 2 I already have meet those qualifications. But I'm sure I can find it on the internet!

There are many yoga mats for sale these days!!! So I quickly went to narrow the search down to eco-friendly yoga mats. Still there are many options: rubber, jute, cotton, something called TPE, and then there are blends of the above. From looking at product descriptions, dimensions, weights and reviews from customers, here's what I learned:
1) Rubber mats seem to be very popular for their bounce and cushioning, but many people complain about the rubber smell, and they are heavy with some weighing 5 lbs or more.
2) The jute blends are blended with rubber, so still stinky and heavy, but people say they have good grip.
3) The cotton mats are either too thin or too thick.
4) The TPE mats seem to be a good option. According to the website, Kulae that carries these mats, "TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) is 100% biodegradeable. Unlike the so called "eco" friendly rubber mats, no toxins or chemicals are used in the production of the tpECOmatTM. There is no latex, rubber or PVC. Furthermore, TPE does not smell and its closed cell technology means that your tpECOmatTM will not readily absorb bacteria and germs. " And they weigh about 2.5 lbs for the 72" length and 1/4" thickness which is what I really want. I can go a little lighter to 1/8" thickness and it weights in at 1.12 lbs which is better from a weight standpoint, but I'm a little concerned that it might not give my knees enough cushion.

Here is the mat I'm leaning towards after my extensive research: http://www.kulae.com/TpECOmat-plus-Yoga-Mat-p3.html
It meets all of my qualifications and I can get it in the 1/4 " thickness - 5 inches and 2.5 lbs rolled up (still gonna be cumbersome no matter how you slice it!). This company only makes eco yoga products and 5% of their profits go to charities in what they call "karma's real" which is very cool. They were also really helpful as I was trying to make my decision. I love good customer service!

Now for a bag to carry it. I rarely ever check a bag when flying, and eventhough I'll be gone for 2 1/2 weeks, I'm going to try and carry on. I mean most of what I'll be taking is yoga shorts & tops and bathing suits. How much space can they possibly take? (famous last words, I know) Normally I'll take my rolling suitcase and a backpack, but since my yoga mat won't fit in either, I needed a new solution. Option 1 was to bungee cord the mat to my current backpack, but there aren't any bungees on my backpack (it's about 25 years old and pre-bungee) and if I just wrap them around the backpack it will be really cumbersome to get stuff in and out of it while traveling. Ditto if I bungee it to the suitcase, and it probably wouldn't meet the size limits then either. So I pulled up the trusty internet and again went shopping. I found the perfect thing on eBags, a site I've visited often and usually find exactly what I need. This bag needed to replace my backpack, so needed enough space for my laptop, books, small purse, toiletries, snacks, my iPod and/or Blackberry, travel docs, etc, etc. , and the yoga mat. I think this bag will be perfect! The only thing that would make it more perfect is if it was also eco friendly, which I don't think it is, and I didn't find anything similar that was. Maybe the folks at Kulae can come up with one!! http://www.ebags.com/ebags/value_set_kalya_town_square_terrace/product_detail/index.cfm?modelID=106806. It's got pockets galore, a sling for the yoga mat that comes out of a hidden compartment on the bottom, a water bottle holder also in a hidden compartment on one end and a pocket for your iPod/MP3 player on the other end, and it's big enough for my laptop and other stuff. To top it off, it comes with a smaller matching purse, was on sale, had free shipping and a lifetime warranty! Needless to say, it's on it's way to me now.

Now I just need for everything to show up before next Thursday, and I'll be all set!