Maria Cooks Light

With all these guest posts you'd think I was on vacation instead of spending my days in the cube or waltzing about enjoying summer in my Homaha. Here's another post from Maria. I've been trying to eat healthier lately. Everyone who knows me knows I eat fairly healthy (except for my baking habit). However, my portions have been "American" sized--with all the running I do, I tell myself I can eat more. It's a lie. You really only burn 100-150 calories per mile of running, and I don't run 10 miles every day. Anyway, my mom and stepdad came to visit in May. Not only did they help me plant a potted garden on my patio, but they also showed me some good ways to prepare healthy dishes. We had a huge feast one night consisting of the following:

and:

Asparagus:

In the iron skillet we put some water (no need for oil!), garlic, and asparagus pieces and sauteed under tender.

Tilapia with mango salsa:

I don't have a picture of the fish, sorry. We baked it in a foil-lined baking dish after putting lemon juice, lemon pepper, a little salt, parsley and basil on each side of the fish. The mango salsa consisted of a chopped mango, chopped jalapeno (only use half if you don't like things spicy--oops!), chopped avocado, handful or twoof chopped cilantro, and a couple squirts of lemon juice and limejuice. Salt and pepper to taste. No need to blend, this is a chunkysalsa served on the tilapia (also tastes good on salads or lemonpepper chicken).

Salmon patties

I'd never tried salmon and was skeptical (WHAT!), but Mom promised it wouldn't taste "fishy" (my big fear). We bought the large sized foil pouch of salmon and combined that with 5 or 6 crushed saltine crackers, and 2 egg whites in a bowl. Mix with hands until combined, then form 3 patties. We again used the iron skillet and cooked them with just water on medium heat.