The original recipe evidently was published in Gourmet Magazine. I found a version of the original recipe on the The Calgary Herald website: New-School Tuna Sandwich.  I’ve made a few changes to reduce the calorie count and adjust the taste to suit me better.

When buying canned tuna, I recommend you look for chunk light tuna canned in water. If you prefer white tuna you will also want to select Albacore tuna.

I like including olives, especially Kalamata olives in the mix. But I would think any olives would be good. If you are not a fan of olives you could omit them altogether.

The tuna and white beans sandwich mix makes enough for 4 sandwiches with a little more than 1/4 cup per sandwich. To give each sandwich a little extra flavor and added fullness without adding many calories I top the mix with 2 tbsp. of freshly grated parmesan cheese and leafy greens.

Serve the sandwich in a whole wheat pita pocket (1/2 whole pita) or on chewy, flavorful, sliced whole grain bread. Simple, delicious, and nutritious!

Tuna and White Beans Sandwich

(makes four 1/4 cup+ servings)

Ingredients

1/2 cup+ canned white beans, rinsed and drained (about 1/2 of a 16 oz. can)
5 oz canned Chunk Light Tuna, drained
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 stalk of celery, diced
10 Olives (Kalamata or other), sliced or chopped
2 Tbsp. fresh Basil (or parsley), minced
.1 tsp salt
.1 tsp black pepper

1. In a medium-sized bowl, roughly mash the beans, garlic, 1 tsp. olive oil, and 1 tsp. lemon juice with a fork.

2. Flake in the tuna, then stir in the celery, olives, basil or parsley, salt and pepper. Taste. If needed add the remaining olive oil and lemon juice and season to taste.

3. Serve sandwich in a pita pocket or on whole grain bread. Top mix with 2 tbsp. of freshly grated parmesan cheese plus leafy greens of your choice for added flavor, crunch, and nutrients!

Depending on the bread you use, the entire sandwich will have about 200 calories for a pita pocket or 300 calories with two slices of whole grain bread.

Hope you like the tuna and white bean sandwich. Enjoy!

You can choose to make the scrambled eggs with whole eggs, egg whites, or a combination of both. The whole egg will provide you with a great source of protein along with lots of vitamins and minerals. Large eggs are naturally low in saturated fats but the yolk contains about 213 mg of cholesterol or more. If you need to limit your cholesterol intake you can make the scrambled eggs with only egg whites or egg substitutes (made from egg whites). Either way the meal will be tasty.

I like the inclusion of spinach with the eggs. What a great way to include one or more servings of vegetable with breakfast! Unlike canned spinach, the spinach prepared from either fresh or frozen leaves can be very tasty as well as nutritious. Spinach is a good source of dietary fiber and it is packed with vitamins and minerals, many of which come up short in the diet of Americans.

Dani Spies will show to how to get your egg dish prepared quickly. This meal should take only a little time to prepare. But if it seems like it will create too many dishes to clean up for the middle of the week then by all means save this recipe for the weekend. But do try it. Season it appropriately to suite your taste and you will have a winner!

Enjoy!

All you need is a little bit of know-how to easily prepare a variety of sweet potato dishes. You can bake them, mash them, and then mix in some unsweetened applesauce or crushed pineapple for extra flavor, sweetness, and moisture. Or you might steam some chunks of peeled sweet potato until tender and then mash them up along with a little orange juice.

One of my favorite ways to prepare sweet potatoes is to make baked sweet potato fries. I’ve got a short video today to show you just how easy it can be to make your own baked fries.

Baking is the key to keeping the calorie count in a reasonable range. Even so you will want to go easy with the oil and limit your portion of fries. About 1/2 of a sweet potato is enough for a serving of these fries (about 130-150 calories) but you may find it hard to stop eating once you get started!

Experiment with your own seasonings till you find the mix you like best. See if you can come up with a good mix that limits the salt. Americans as a general rule get far too much salt in the diet.

Enjoy the baked sweet potato fries!

You’ll need to have some old fashioned oats, oat bran, brown sugar, and cinnamon to put the mix together.  If you prefer, you can use quick cooking oats. The finished mix is divided into six small ziplock bags. When I prepare a single bowl of oatmeal I use 1/3 cup water and 2/3 cup nonfat milk.

Homemade Instant Oatmeal

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

2 cups of old fashioned oats (or quick oats)

6 Tbsp. brown sugar

3/8 cup oat bran

1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon (You may want to experiment with how much cinnamon would be the right amount for you. Cinnamon enhances the sweetness of sugar.)

1. Measure all the ingredients into a bowl and mix well.

2. Evenly divide the mix into 6 small ziplock bags (approximately 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp. but this will depend on how accurately you measure the initial ingredients.)

To Prepare:

Add the contents of one bag of Homemade Instant Oatmeal to a microwave safe bowl. Add 1/3 cup nonfat milk + 1/3 cup water. Stir to mix. Heat on medium high (power 6-8) for about 3 minutes. If the oatmeal is of the right consistency for you (thick enough) then remove from the microwave and add the remaining 1/3 cup nonfat milk.

Calories for one serving: 236

For a special treat add 1/2 cup or more of fresh blueberries before you heat the oatmeal in the microwave. This makes an awesome breakfast. (Works with frozen blueberries also but the skin tends to be a little tough.) The total calorie count should be less than 300. Even so it makes a complete and very filling meal!

(My apologies for the video clip not fitting well in my blog theme!)

Something else that is new to me are the “no boil” lasagna noodles. I wonder if it is possible to get this kind of noodle in whole wheat? Probably not (oh well…it would be nice). Something else the recipe calls for is ricotta cheese. If you like ricotta great! If not, you can always substitute cottage cheese as I do. I look for the 2% cottage cheese to save on calories (1% or less cottage cheese can get a little dry). I would also recommend buying low fat mozzarella (may not melt as nicely as the higher fat mozzarella but it’s another good way to keep the calorie count down.)

If you have just a little extra time, you might want to use fresh spinach instead of the frozen package. Fresh packaged spinach is available year round where I live in the Midwest. Hopefully you can buy it year round also. All you would need to do is wash off the spinach leaves. Drain well and dry off with a salad spinner or paper towel. Then very lightly heat the spinach in a skillet with a little olive oil (1-2 tsp.) till the spinach is slightly wilted. I guarantee you will like this much better than the frozen stuff!!

Good luck. Happy lasagna making!

[UPDATE: After visiting a number of forums and reading what other people had to say about "no boil" lasagna noodles, I learned that these noodles are getting a mixed response. That is, some people rave about them and others don't like them at all. I also learned that there is indeed a whole wheat "no boil" lasagna noodle available. Gia Russa Whole Wheat Egg Lasagna, 9-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 12) I'll have to give these a try sometime!]