Chicken and Black Bean Salad

We had this recipe at our 3 week luncheon.

1/3 cup olive oil
2 T. lime juice
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
1 1/2 t. sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 t. chili powder
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper

Mix above ingredients in a jar with a light fitting lid. Shake well and refrigerate.

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can mexi-corn, drained
1 med. red pepper, sliced and cut in half
1/3 cup sliced green onions
6 cups torn romaine lettuce
1 1/2 cups grilled chicken strips
additional cilantro chopped

Arrange greens in a large salad bow. top with beans, corn, red pepper and green onions and chicken. Pour dressing all over an d lightly toss. Garnish with remaining cilantro.

Green Smoothies (or purple)

Ladies,

I can't find a specific recipe for the smoothies so I'll just tell you what I do. The great thing about these smoothies is that you can change them a little each time if you want - or not.

Fill your blender with 2-3 handfuls of spinach. Add water to the half line. Blend.

Microwave one frozen banana for 1 minute. Peel and add to spinach.

Also add 1 cup or so frozen blueberries. Blend.

Microwave 1 1/2 - 2 cups mixed frozen fruit (Costco blend). Add to mixture and blend.

That's it!

General information:

1. Recommended amount daily: 32 ozs. Make in the morning and drink a large glass twice daily or gradually through the day.
2. As you get used to the flavor of the above ingredients, add different fruits and vegetables such as kale, collards, beet tops, swiss chard, celery etc. Experiment!
3. For optimum healthiness, the balance between fruits and vegetables should be 50/50.
4. 32 ozs. of a 50/50 blend provides 15 servings of fruits/veggies.

For lots of good information, google "green smoothies" or go to greensmoothiegirl.com

Thursday's lunch and get-together was great! Thanks for having us Wendy! See you next time...Valerie

Granola Recipe

Granola

In a medium bowl combine:
4 c. rolled oats
1 c. coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 c. coarsely chopped almonds
½ c. sesame seeds
½ c. wheat germ
½ c. flaxseed meal
¼ c. nonfat dry milk powder

In microwave safe bowl mix:
½ c. canola oil (I use grape seed oil to make it healthier)
½ c. honey
¼ c. brown sugar
3 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla

Stir and microwave for one minute. Pour over dry ingredients and transfer to a large shallow baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes at about 300 degrees stirring every ten minutes so that it doesn’t burn.
Note: When I followed this recipe, I thought it was a little dry so I added a bit more oil. Also, you can interchange different kinds of nuts and make it how you like it. When I made this I put in raisins, some sunflower seeds, more walnuts and no almonds.

Kickoff Lunch!

Don't forget about the lunch this week...

Thursday is the day we will giggle and chat.

Wendy's place is the spot we'll be at.

Be there at noon, not a minute too soon.

And bring a good snack, (not an oreo pack)!

I might just have to bring these, and yes they are sugar-free!!

215 N. Country Manor Lane, Alpine

See you there!

Just Dance Party

Hello everyone! This is Marci Dahl. I was thinking we should get together one of these nights and have a Just Dance or Dance Dance Revolution party. It is such a fun way to get some great exercise. I have played this at New Years parties and it is the hit of the party for dancers and non-dancers alike (and even men!).
We could do it on a Friday or Saturday night when we can leave the kiddies at home and have healthy snacks and meet each other. My brother has a Wii that I could borrow, but if anyone owns it and would be willing donate it for a night, that would be awesome. Let me know what you think of this idea and if you're interested.

Is it too good to be true?

Just wondering when this honeymoon stage is going to end? I was able to turn down See's Candy today - that doesn't happen very often! It is great but I know it can't last forever. When am I going to crash??? ;)

And we're off!

Hey gals! This is Sarah.

I'm excited for all of us to be doing this challenge together! And a challenge it is! At least for me. I'm a sugar snackin, late-night-cereal-eating, exercising deficient kind of girl so this will be good for me to step it up.

I've added each of your names/emails as blog authors so feel free to post anything you like:
- If you find a healthy recipe, please share!
- Words of motivation
- Struggles
- Favorite healthy snacks
- Requests for lunch or exercise meet-ups?

By the way, the blog name is healthyten.blogspot.com because there are ten of us, and basically every other blog name in the world was taken.

Have a triscuit-y Tuesday,
Sarah