Hungry Girl's Turkey-rific Taco Bean Dip

Usually, dips are a waste of fat and calories and creamy goodness. I was pleasantly surprised when I found this dip recipe from Hungry Girl. It's a bean dip with ground turkey in it. With the ground turkey, this already fiber-full dip gets more lean protein added.


Turkey-rific Taco Bean Dip

PER SERVING (1/12th of recipe, about 1/2 cup): 131 calories, 2.5g fat, 453mg sodium, 16g carbs, 4g fiber, 2.5g sugars, 11g protein -- PointsPlus® value 3*

Get ready for some SERIOUS dunking -- this bean dip means business, people!

Ingredients:
10 oz. raw lean ground turkey
1 1/2 tsp. taco seasoning
2 cups diced plum tomatoes (about 4 tomatoes)
1 cup diced onion (about 1/2 large onion)
Two 16-oz. cans fat-free refried beans
Two 4-oz. cans diced green chiles
1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat Mexican-blend cheese
Serving suggestions: low-fat baked tortilla chips, sliced bell peppers

Directions:
Bring a large skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat on the stove. Add turkey and sprinkle with taco seasoning. Cook and finely crumble until turkey is fully cooked, about 6 minutes. Drain any excess liquid and transfer turkey to the crock pot.

Evenly top turkey with tomatoes, onion, beans, and chiles.

Cover and cook on high for 3 - 4 hours or on low for 7 - 8 hours.

Turn off crock pot and remove lid. Add cheese and stir well.

Serve with your guilt-free dippers of choice and enjoy!

MAKES 12 SERVINGS

Hot Fudge Ice Cream Sandwiches from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures

Here is a very simple and delicious dessert from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. Make your own hot fudge ice cream sandwiches...to make this recipe healthier, make your cookies from scratch or buy the 100 calorie ready to bake cookies from Nestle or Pillsbury. You can also use frozen yogurt or sugar free ice cream for the filling. Here is the recipe! Enjoy!

Success Isn't Always Being Rich

Today, we all think that if we just had more money, we'd be happier and all of our problems would go away. While more money would cover the bills, rent, mortgage, and shopping trips, money cannot change the essence of our relationships and the hard work that it takes to make our dreams into a reality. Money can definitely take stress out of many areas in our lives and make things easier, but it does not mean success and it does not mean happiness.

I think that instead of only striving for success in business, we should strive for success in having a full, happy, and unique life. Money cannot buy either of those successes, but many people tend to forget the latter one. When asked where people want to see themselves in 10 years, they usually say married and successful in business. A lot of people forget about being happy with their life; they don't realize that being successful in their business might mean risking a lot of things that make you happy. People also forget that following their passions could make them successful but may not make them a lot of money.

I'm not saying don't try to be successful in business, I'm saying find the balance where you can be happy and do all of the things that you want to do. We have become a society obsessed with money and being rich, forgetting that the riches in life often are worth far more than the fortune we set out to earn at work. Try to find your passions in life; if you can't make them a career, be sure to keep them close to you in every way you can. Don't lose sight of yourself in trying to find a career; money isn't everything. As long as you work hard and put passion in to everything you do, you will be successful.

HG's Happy Birthday Cake Shake

Milkshakes are way too thick and way too sugary for me, so it's pretty easy for me to stay away from them when dessert comes around. When I saw that Hungry Girl had redone the shake, I got excited to try it. It looks delicious and like something that I would really love to try. Check out this recipe for a sweet shake that won't overload you with sugar and calories.

HG's Happy Birthday Cake Shake

Serving Size: 1 shake (entire recipe)
Calories: 215
Fat: 5.5g
Sodium: 395mg
Carbs: 36g
Fiber: 1g
Sugars: 20g
Protein: 4.5g

PointsPlus® value 6*

We're warning you now -- exposure to our Happy Birthday Cake Shake recipe may induce squeals of joy, a need to blend something, and the insatiable desire for a cake-inspired milkshake. Go for it!

Ingredients:
3 tbsp. Cool Whip Free, thawed
1/4 tsp. hot cocoa mix from a 25-calorie packet (like Swiss Miss Diet or Nestlé Fat Free)
1 tbsp. sugar-free French vanilla powdered creamer (like the kind by Coffee-mate)
1/2 cup light vanilla soymilk
1 tbsp. Jell-O Sugar Free Fat Free Vanilla Instant pudding mix
1/4 cup fat-free vanilla ice cream
1 1/2 cups crushed ice or 8 - 12 ice cubes
1 tbsp. rainbow sprinkles, or more for optional topping

Directions:
To make the chocolatey topping, in a small bowl, combine Cool Whip with cocoa mix. Stir until completely mixed. Cover and refrigerate.

In a tall glass, combine powdered creamer with 2 tbsp. hot water and stir to dissolve. Add soymilk and pudding mix. Stir until mostly dissolved. Transfer contents of the glass to a blender.

Add ice cream and ice to the blender. Blend at high speed until thoroughly mixed. If needed, remove blender from the base, stir mixture, and blend again.

Pour into the tall glass. Gently stir in the sprinkles.

If you want to get fancy with your chocolatey topping, spoon it into one of the bottom corners of a plastic bag; snip off the tip of that corner to create a small hole, and pipe the topping through the hole into a swirl over your shake. Or keep things simple and just spoon on the topping! If you like, top with a few extra sprinkles. Enjoy!

MAKES 1 SERVING

Dedication takes a lifetime, but dreams only last for a night.

This quote is from All Time Low's song, Stay Awake. We all have dreams about what we're going to do and who we're going to be as we grow up. We have this wonderful picture in our head that includes our dream career, love life, success, family, but just dreaming and thinking about these things are not enough. In order to get the life we want and become who we want to be, we have to dedicate ourselves to working hard to get there. We cannot expect things just to happen out of thin air...that one day I'll just wake up and be skinny, or I'll wake up with a boyfriend. No, that's not going to happen. I have to work out and eat healthily to lose weight. I have to put myself out there, date some douche bags, and find the man of my dreams. If we really want these fabulous lives that we deserve, we have to put our heart and soul and all into everything we do. One day, we'll get those things that we want, but we will never get them if we don't dedicate ourselves to making those dreams become a reality.

Chocolate Angel Food Cake

I absolutely love angel food cake. It's low in calories and tastes amazing with sorbet or fresh fruit. Check out this recipe for chocolate Angel Food Cake at Lynn's Kitchen Adventures.

What defines you is your priorities in life

Patti Stanger~Millionaire Matchmaker

Though Patti uses this in reference to finding love, the quote is really all about life and being ourselves. We always want people to think the best of us, but how can they do that if all we care about and concentrate on are the material and superficial aspects of life? There are other ways to show our desire and love for life than just money, success, and being on top. Though our passions may lend to these eventually, our passions should be our priorities, not being rich and being on top. As Patti also says, leading with your "business foot" gets you no where. People don't want to hear your brag about how well your business is doing or how much money you're making. That makes you look boring, self centered, and one dimensional. Talk about things that interest you, focus on your passions and make happiness a priority in life. Success will follow and you may find yourself in a better place all together.

HG' Bake-tastic Butternut Squash Fries

Butternut squash is a great substitute for potatoes in french fries...the squash can be difficult to prep, so after the recipe, check out other ideas for delicious french fry substitutes. All of these fabulous recipes are from Hungry Girl.

Bake-tastic Butternut Squash Fries

PER SERVING (entire recipe): 204
calories, <1g fat, 258mg sodium, 53g carbs,
9g fiber, 10g sugars, 4g protein --
PointsPlus™ value 0*

Prep: 25 minutes
Cook: 40 minutes

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash (large enough to yield 1 lb. once peeled & sliced)
1/8 tsp. coarse salt, or more to taste
Optional dip: ketchup

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Peel squash with a vegetable peeler. Slice the ends off the squash, and then cut it in
half width-wise. Cut the round bottom piece in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.
Using a crinkle cutter or a knife, carefully cut squash into spears/French-fry shapes.
Thoroughly blot moisture away with paper towels, and sprinkle evenly with salt.
Spray a broiler pan, a baking rack placed over a baking sheet, or a baking sheet with
nonstick spray, and then place spears flat on it.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, and then carefully flip spears. Continue to bake until
tender on the inside and crispy on the outside, about 20 minutes longer.
If you like, sprinkle with additional salt and serve with ketchup for dipping. Enjoy!
MAKES 1 SERVING

Click here for Hungry Girl's french fry trials and try using one of these ingredients instead!

10 Easy Ways to Burn an Extra 100 Calories

1. Stand up.  Stand up for 10 minutes for every hour during your eight hour work day and you'll burn off an extra 100 calories
2. Give a massage. Give your partner a 20 minute massage and burn off 100 calories.
3. Take your coffee break on foot.  Walk to the nearest Starbucks and be sure to keep your coffee 'skinny' to avoid drinking those calories back.
4. Get on Facebook.  Updating your Facebook status or surfing burns calories also.  Clicking equals calories burned!
5. Give yourself a blowout.  Instead of going to the salon, blow-drying and straightening your own hair will zap another 100 calories.
6. Try a new recipe.  Baking can burn up to 100 calories before eating the meal.
7. Pace while you talk on the phone. Next time you talk on the phone, burn calories by walking back and forth. 
8. Clean your closet.  Clean, sort things you don't need anymore, and reorganize for 35 minutes and burn 100 calories.
9. Play tag.  Play a 20 minute game of tag with your kids (or siblings or cousins for those of us without kids) and burn more calories.
10. Go shopping.  Spend time walking around and trying on clothes and burn 100 calories.  (maybe even more!)

Summarized article by Jessica Smith from Red Book.
http://www.redbookmag.com/health-wellness/advice/burn-extra-calories-easy#fbIndex1

More on Simple and Complex Carbs

Again, How To Think gives us some helpful information about how to differentiate between simple and complex carbohydrates.

Read the labels. If the label lists sugar, sucrose, fructose, corn syrup, white or “wheat” flour, they contain simple carbohydrates. If these ingredients are at the top of the list, they may contain mostly simple carbohydrates, and little else. They should be avoided.

Look for foods that have not been highly processed or refined. Choose a piece of fruit instead of fruit juice, which is very high in naturally occurring simple sugars. Choose whole grain breads instead of white bread. Choose whole grain oatmeal instead of packaged cold cereals.

The closer you get to nature, the closer you get to health.

Simple carbohydrates, like sugar and corn syrup, are created in a factory – while complex carbohydrates in vegetables and whole grains are designed by nature, and help you maintain your health.

“Beauty isn’t judged by the size of your jeans"

Jack Barakat~All Time Low

A new year has just started...be honest, how many of us made "losing weight" or "get skinny" one of our resolutions? How many of us say that we are going to do these things and have our hearts set on these things all the time? Now has it ever occurred to anyone else that framing our health and our bodies this way says so much about what culture and society has done to us?

How about this year, instead of resolving to get skinny or get hott, let's resolve to get healthy and be happy. If you think about it, they're really the same goals, framed in a more positive light. I'm a curvy girl and I always say that I want to be skinny, but since I'm curvy, skinny and thin are not realities for me.

I believe that true beauty comes from within. A happy person radiates beauty from the inside, and that inner beauty is the only beauty that we can hold on to throughout our lives. Let's spend this year making ourselves truly beautiful: do what makes us happy, focus on our lives-whether it be school, a career, our family, and really put your all into where you want to be.

Happiness makes us feel so much better about ourselves. A person may be beautiful on the outside, but without happiness, self satisfaction, and confidence, that beauty fades fast.

This year, let's be the best that we can be and build ourselves up to be beautiful from the inside out.

HG's Sweet and Sour Chicken 1 2 3

I haven't met many people who would say no to Sweet and Sour Chicken from a Chinese restaurant. I have tried to stop myself because that dish is full of sugar and calories. Here is Hungry Girl's version of this delicious Chinese food staple that won't weigh you down.

HG's Sweet & Sour Chicken 1-2-3

Serving Size: 1/3rd of recipe, about 2 cups
Calories: 295
Fat: 2g
Sodium: 730mg
Carbs: 37g
Fiber: 5.25g
Sugars: 27g
Protein: 30g

PointsPlus® value 7*

Ingredients:
12 oz. raw boneless skinless lean chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup chopped celery
16 oz. canned pineapple chunks packed in juice (not drained)
1 tbsp. cornstarch
3 tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar
1 tbsp. ketchup
1 tbsp. reduced-sodium/lite soy sauce
1/2 tsp. chopped garlic
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
2 cups bean sprouts

Directions:
Bring a large skillet or wok sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat on the stove. Season chicken with salt and black pepper and place in the skillet/wok.

Stirring occasionally, cook until chicken is no longer pink on the outside, about 3 minutes. Add broccoli florets, bell pepper, celery, and 2 tbsp. of water to the skillet/wok. Cover and cook until veggies are tender, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, to make the sauce, drain the juice from the canned pineapple into a small nonstick pot. Add cornstarch and stir to dissolve. Add vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce, garlic, crushed red pepper, and ginger. Mix thoroughly. Bring to medium-high heat on the stove. Stirring frequently, cook until thickened, about 3 minutes.

To the skillet/wok, add pineapple chunks, bean sprouts, and sauce. Mix well. Continue to cook and stir until sprouts have softened and chicken is fully cooked, about 4 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

MAKES 3 SERVINGS