Veggie Bee

Thanks to Monica for sharing this amazing deal at Amazon! You can’t beat getting an awesome magazine like Cooking Light for only $5 for a year… but hurry and put your order in, the sale ends on Saturday.

Order Cooking Light on Amazon

What’s your favorite healthy cooking magazine??

I had intended to chop up the romaine I had in the fridge and have a huge, yummy salad for lunch before I went into the office. But I lollygagged too long and had to grab something fast on the run. Good thing I had an Amy’s Black Bean Vegetable Burrito! Next time I’ll plan ahead, but this got me through in a pinch.

Spinach+fruit vegan smoothie is on the menu for a snack when I get home and then I’ll get to have my big salad. Still plenty of time to get lots of veggies in for the day!

________________________________________________

Roni at Roni’s Weigh is giving away $100 courtesy of SunChips and she’s also sharing her own personal process of learning to live greener & healthier.

Are you taking any steps to live more green? Go visit her site and add your tips to the comments to be entered into the drawing for $100! She’ll draw randomly for a winner on Friday.

Just because you’re trying to increase your veggies, doesn’t mean they have to be bland or topped with artificially flavored dressings! You don’t have to sacrifice taste for health.  There are a lot of options out there that can support your efforts to enjoy veggies in a lower fat or lower calorie way.  Ideally, you’ll want to aim for a maximum of 45 calories for 2 tablespoons of dressing since most regular dressings can easily increase your daily calorie intake. There are plenty of options with wonderful natural ingredients available, don’t settle for preservatives and artificial ingredients no matter what the calories are!

Individual seasonings
Use these together or separately instead of a bottled dressing. These are usually available at restaurants as well!

• Balsamic vinegar ~ Balsamic vinaigrette is made using vinegar as well as oil. However, balsamic vinegar by itself has only 14 calories per tablespoon and its flavor goes a long way on a salad or over veggies.
• Lemon juice ~ Used alone or combined with any of these other ingredients, it can add a flavor punch over salad or steamed, grilled or roasted veggies.
• EVOO ~ Extra virgin olive oil. Good extra virgin olive oil is best used as a dressing since heating it too much can change its flavor. At 120 calories a tablespoon however, you may not want to pour it on your veggies without care. Try spritzing it or using a Misto sprayer to give you better portion control.
• Salsa ~ Naturally made salsa can be super flavorful using only a few ingredients and makes a great topping not only for salads but over potatoes or black beans as well.

By the bottle

• Galeo’s ~ Their tag line is “The world’s best dressings!” and I have to wholeheartedly agree. All of their dressings are fantasic. My favorite is the Miso Sesame, but all 4 of their flavors are yummy!
• Trader Joe’s ~ If you live near a Trader Joe’s, you know what a blessing this place is for healthy, cost-effective foods. They have a few great options for salad dressings:
  • Parmesan Ranch ~ you can find it in the produce section.
  • Balsamic Vinaigrette
  • Asian Sesame Vinaigrette
• Follow Your Heart ~ They have 2 really great ranch dressing which can usually be found in the refrigerated section of your local grocery store’s produce section.
  • Low Fat Ranch
  • Low Fat Spicy Southwestern Ranch
• Newman’s Own ~ many of Newman’s Own dressings are high in calories and fat, but 2 of his dressings stand out as both tasty and low calorie. Plus all the profits go to charity!
  • Low Fat Sesame Ginger Dressing
  • Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Annie’s Naturals ~ Annie’s carries a wide variety of organic and natural sauces and dressings. Here are a few of their lower calorie options. Check the store locator to find Annie’s near you!
  • Lite Gingerly Vinaigrette
  • Lite Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
  • Lite Raspberry Vinaigrette

Individual packets

• Newman’s Own Light Italian Dressing ~ Minimus.biz is a site for finding travel-size and convenient products, but I could only find one salad dressing to recommend since most of the others contain what can only nicely be called “unnatural.” If you find any others on the site that you have a question about, let me know. These individual packets make it very convenient for travel or to keep handy in your purse for meals out where you may not be able to find suitable dressing.

Recipes

• If you never want to buy your dressing again, check out A Veggie Venture for all the information you’ll ever need about making your own! Be careful with the amount of oils in dressing recipes if you’re trying to lose weight, remember that all oils are around 120 calories per tablespoon.

What’s your favorite bottled salad dressing or dressing recipe??