The Other Woman Cooks

Turkey is good for you. A great source of B vitamins that give you energy and also help your body cope with stress — something most of us need on a daily basis. Here's the short list of B vitamins found in turkey: niacin, B6, and B12. All of them little bodyguards for your sanity. Turkey's vitamin cocktail also helps patch up DNA and that will keep your cells in good repair. Not to mention, turkey is one of the leanest meat sources around. Four ounces of turkey breast, even served with a small piece of yummy skin, has less than 1 gram of saturated fat. That’s nothing compared with the 4.5 grams found in the same amount of flank steak or killer ham with up to 5.5 grams of fat. And the leftovers make great sandwiches in a hurry -- yummy enough to keep me away from the deadly drive-thru window that got me needing the Flat Belly Diet! in the first place! SPICY ORANGE-PEPPER TURKEY BREAST 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 1/8 teaspoon cumin 1 tablespoo...

What were my slightly snug at the waist jeans fit right out of the dryer. In the beginning, small victories help foster success. It also helps that the first four days of the Flat Belly Diet! are very structured. The book supplies a grocery list and there’s no need to count calories. You simply eat what you read -- an instant weight loss program. Just add Sassy water (pages 6 and 80) and you’re good to shrink. Just when I wondered if it was possible to stick to a low-cal diet without losing my mind along with the extra pounds, it was Day 5. Relief came in the form of “extra” calories. Three squares and one Snack Pack at 400 calories each, 1,600 calories -- up from the 1,200 calorie Jumpstart . There are lots of great recipes in the book, but well, you know me … I like to fiddle. With the help of some great calorie counter websites, it wasn’t too hard to come up with a tasty main dish. 2/3 cup of steamed sugar snap peas (40 calories) and two tablespoons of jellied cranberry sauce (50 ...

If you love lemon flavor and believe in the curative power of some foods, then this Turkey Francaise is just what the doctor ordered. Using turkey Americanizes the classic French cuisine deliciously. The best part is that if you prefer to make it Italian, substitute the mushrooms with capers and you have Turkey Piccata. Always a big decision for me which country’s lemon poultry recipe to favor since my ethnic heritage combines both French (my dad) and Italian (my mom) and my grandmothers on both sides were phenomenal and inspiring cooks; especially for a little girl who loved wearing her grannies’ aprons! Ask half a dozen food historians where lemons originated from and you’ll likely get half a dozen different answers. The exact origins of the lemon remain vague, it is widely presumed that lemons were native to India and China where the tart juice was known for its medicinal properties and as an antiseptic. Lemons made their first appearance in the Arab world and the Mediterranean regi...

Yesterday's turkey, peas, carrots and mushrooms and a few chunks of boiled potatoes in a casserole dish along with some gussied up gravy. Add a few fresh ingredients and a rolled biscuit crust and dinner is served. Leftovers are a lot like life, a delicate combination of new and old. Tomorrow starts the beginning of another holiday season and it's only natural to think about changing a few things with the new year ahead. Here are a few thoughts to focus on that might help you in making the best of what you've got: 1. Get outside of your head. We live in an uncertain world. Worried times puts us in our heads; fretful for many hours every day. We mistreat our bodies, eat poorly, always at a dead run to get things done without taking time to integrate our physical self with our inner selves. Reconnecting with our bodies by walking, taking a warm bath instead of a fast shower, yoga, any activity that us connects with our bodies again can release tension. 2. Allow yourself to be...