Here are our tips for a Thanksgiving meal that won’t have you frazzled and is sure to impress your guests and family.Cut cook time in half by serving a roasted turkey breast instead of a whole turkey. Keep the stuffing simple and the flavoring ingredients to a minimum.

Click here for the recipe.

A gravy that doesn’t require turkey drippings is another time saver.

This vanilla sweet potato recipe requires only 10 minutes hands-on-time.

Click here for the recipe.

Make a quick cranberry sauce with sugar, cranberries, and water. Substitute brown sugar (preferably dark) in any cranberry sauce recipe. Brown sugar will deepen the sauce’s flavor and color.

Serve one vegetable side in the form of broccoli with a crunchy topping.

Click here for the recipe.

Check out our Top 10 Thanksgiving must-haves:

Prep Time: 10 min

Start to Finish: 10 min

Makes: 12 servings (2 tablespoons dip each)

Ingredients:

4 oz (half of 8-oz package) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (Neufchâtel), softened

1 container (6 oz) Yoplait® Original 99% Fat Free orange crème or French vanilla yogurt

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 tablespoon frozen orange juice concentrate

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed

Assorted fresh fruit for dipping, if desired

Directions:

1. In medium bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on low speed until smooth.

2. Add yogurt, powdered sugar, orange juice concentrate and vanilla; beat 30 to 60 seconds on low speed until blended and smooth. Gently stir in whipped topping until well blended. Serve immediately or refrigerate up to 24 hours. Serve with fresh fruit.

To get more delicious “healthified” recipes, click here.

Give The New Year A Healthy Start

20 Best Foods For Weight Loss

If you love spicy food and you love shrimp, you have to give this recipe a try! Made with four habanero chiles, it’s the real deal and so tasty you’ll be licking your fingers clean.

Ingredients

2 cups water

4 Scotch bonnet chiles or habanero chiles, halved

3 green onions, coarsely chopped

3 large fresh thyme sprigs

3 garlic cloves, peeled, crushed

2 tablespoons salt

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 teaspoons whole allspice

1 pound uncooked large shrimp, unpeeled

GO HERE FOR THE REST OF THE RECIPE

ione-gallery id=”188121″ src=”http://hellobeautiful.com”]

4 Foods To Eat For Beautiful Skin

3 Diet Rules That Are Meant To Be Broken

From fitness.com:

Enhance a regular blended margarita recipe with a can of frozen limeade, which adds extra citrus flavor. Prefer something sweeter? Make a batch of strawberry margaritas with fresh summer strawberries.

Start to Finish: 10 minutes
Makes: 10 servings

12-ounce can frozen limeade concentrate
2/3 cup tequila
1/2 cup light orange juice or orange liqueur
4 cups ice cubes
1/2 of a medium lime
Coarse salt
Orange slices (optional)

1. In a blender container combine limeade concentrate, tequila, and orange juice. Cover and blend until combined. With blender running, add ice cubes, one at a time, through opening in lid, blending until mixture becomes slushy.

2. Cut a thick lime slice; cut slice in half. Rub slices around rims of eight glasses. Dip rims into a dish of coarse salt to coat rims. Pour mixture into prepared glasses. Garnish glasses with orange slices, if desired.

Nutrition Information per serving: 122 calories, 0g protein, 22g carbohydrate, 0g fat (0g saturated), 0g fiber

Click here to find out how to make strawberry margaritas!

Get more waistline friendly summer drinks here!

Get more calorie conscious cocktails here!

Has your holiday weekend left you throwing a bottle of aloe and Excedrin migraine in your purse this morning? Has it left you carrying a couple extra pounds around the waistline as well?

All that worrying about squeezing into your 4^th of July bikini has all gone down the drain after hitting up the BBQ’s all weekend. The ribs you were snacking down with Aunt Sandy and Uncle Bob have now stuck to your ribs, a little reminder of the tasteful yet unhealthy foods your palette took pleasure in that your body despised.

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Think back to what you nibbled on over this past weekend. Not looking too good huh? Here are a list of some of the most common worst for you foods seen at 4^th of July BBQ’s:

1. Pork or Beef ribs are the fattest part of the animal. Containing up to 1,540 calories and 124 grams of fat.

2. On the grill. Hot dogs, sausage, and bratwurst can reach up to 1250-1600 milligrams of sodium.

3. What’s a barbeque without mayonnaise? Mayonnaise based salads such as coleslaw, potato salad, and pasta salad can contain up to 20 grams of fat per ½ cup.

We know it was the holiday weekend, and you were relaxing from the stressful work week, allowing yourself to indulge in the holiday foods. Now, you would like to get back into the routine of things. Just because 4^th of July is complete doesn’t mean the beaches have shut down! Want to know what are some of the best summer foods to keep you looking good?

1. Endive and grapefruit salad is perfect for getting some vitamin C in your body.

2. Grilled vegetables such as onions, bell peppers, zucchini, asparagus, and eggplant are all low fat and tasty when poured under light olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper.

3. Watermelon contains natural compounds that may protect against bone loss.

4. Iced Tea has been studied and proven that it does help to reduce memory loss. This drink will chill you down, satisfy your taste buds, and keep you alert.

5. Want that six-pack abs? Blueberries can help shed belly fat with its high levels of antioxidants.

Losing weight the healthy way it’s not all about what you put into your mouth, it’s also what you put your body through physically. Here are 5-summer cardio routines that will help you shed those extra pounds and keep your toned summer bikini bod.

Summer fashion on the runway

1. Jogging is the simplest form of cardio, but one of the best. For a great fat burning work out session set a steady pace for 30 minutes.

2. A run on the Treadmill. Just because the weather isn’t permitting for an outdoor run does not mean you have an excuse to miss your cardio session for the day. While running on the treadmill you can catch up on some TV, or blast the radio and listen to music.

3. Step Aerobics is always something fun you and a girlfriend can do together. Not only are you exercising and burning calories, the environment of an aerobics class has been studied and proven to help promote an overall better mood in a person.

4. What is a summer cardio workout list without swimming? Swimming is one of the best cardio routines that is low impact on your bones and joints, yet highest in toning your overall body muscles.

5. Step out of the 4 wheeler and pedal onto the 2 wheeler. Cycling is a fun cardio workout for the summer. You can head out to the local park, or if the weather is a little on the cloudy side you can do it in your bedroom with a static cycle.

Are you into yoga?

These delectable tasty treats have taken over glass displays of the fronts of bakeries across the country. What’s the deal with this cupcake invasion? Who knows, but the tasty attractive cakes are not going anywhere this 4^th of July.

Get cupcake decorations here!

Get ready to be a witness to the Red White and Blue bite size cakes at BBQ’s and parties over this Holiday weekend. And hopefully you’ll be lucky enough to dabble your taste buds in as well.

Recipe for 4th cupcakes

Want some ideas for 4^th of July cupcakes? Check em’ out:

Are you a cupcake nut?

More delicious 4th of July desserts

When it’s hot outside, and a steaming cup of coffee is not what you’re thirsty for, don’t give up your caffeine fix, make some iced coffee.

Here’s an easy iced coffee recipe:

1) Brew a pot of fresh coffee using 2 tablespoons of dark-roasted ground coffee per cup.

2) Transfer the hot coffee to a carafe or pitcher.

3) Let the coffee stand at room temperature for 3 to 5 hours, or refrigerate it until cold, about 1 1/2 to 3 hours.

4) Fill a tall glass with ice cubes.

5) Pour the chilled coffee into the glass.

6) Stir the coffee to equalize its temperature. Add milk if you like.

Foods for better sex

Quick Iced Coffee

1) Brew a pot of fresh coffee using 3 to 4 tablespoons of dark-roasted ground coffee per cup.

2) Add sugar to the hot coffee if you would like to sweeten the whole pot of coffee; it will dissolve more easily in hot coffee than in iced coffee.

3) Fill tall, plastic (not glass!) glasses with ice cubes and pour the hot coffee over them.

Can cooking get or keep a man

It’s What-the-Wednesday…

I’ve been reading all of your tweets and emails about the Get ‘Em Girls interview. A few of you wrote to say that you were really feeling the Kiss O’Honey Potatoes recipe. Well, I think that you’ll enjoy this follow up as well. It’s their salmon recipe with Chef Joan A. Davis.

Check it out…
Watch the video, then cook it!

Oh — And don’t leave me by my lonesome- leave me a COMMENT.
Some people won’t like you no matter what so just be your crazy, sexy, cool, weird selves & give the haters something to talk about!
–
Thanks for hanging with your girl, Abiola Abrams, “Miss Picky” on VH1′s Tough Love, the author of Dare, the host of The Planet Abiola Show online, and the former host of BET’s The Best Short Films. Follow me on Twitter and PlanetAbiola.com.

Check out these great tips on how to stay healthy while cooking from shape.com!

1. STEAMING
Steaming is, simply, cooking food in an enclosed environment infused with steam. You can steam in a variety of ways: with a covered, perforated basket that rests above a pot of boiling water; with a parchment wrapper or foil; with Chinese bamboo steamers that stack on top of a wok; and with convenient electric steamers. Steaming cooks and seals in flavor, eliminating the need for added fats during preparation. It also preserves nutrients better than any other cooking method except microwaving. It’s perfect for fish and shellfish because it doesn’t dry out the delicate flesh. Halibut, cod and snapper steam particularly well.

2. STIR-FRYING
Cooking at a very high heat for a very short time is the essence of stir-frying. Because food is cooked so quickly, it should be cut into small, uniform pieces to ensure every ingredient is cooked thoroughly. This is another method that requires your full attention, as continuous stirring and sometimes tossing of the ingredients are necessary to prevent food from sticking to the pan.

The best way to stir-fry is in a wok. The sloping sides and rounded bottom are specially designed so food can be quickly browned in the “belly” of the pan and then moved up to the sides, where it finishes cooking more slowly. Traditionally, Chinese woks are cast iron and take a while to heat up. Most woks today are made of carbon steel, which heats up and cools down more quickly. The wok is placed on a metal ring which sits over the burner. When it’s very hot, oil is added, followed by the food.

3. BROILING
One of the simplest of all cooking methods, broiling cooks by exposing food to direct heat in an electric or gas stove, usually in the bottom drawer of the oven. It renders the same results as grilling, but in grilling the heat comes from below, while in broiling it comes from above. Because the heat is constant, all you really need to do is move the food closer to or farther from the flame depending on how you like your food cooked. That means the thinner the cut of food, the closer the heat source should be so it quickly sears the surface of the food, leaving the interior less done. Because broiling is a dry-heat method of cooking (which means no additional oil), lean cuts of beef and chicken work best when marinated first or basted during cooking.

Click here for the rest!

This Arugula and Strawberry salad is a rich source of iron and vitamins A and C, perfect for a spring day.

Arugula and Strawberry Salad
Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:
2 bunches arugula, rinsed and shredded
4 cups sliced strawberries
1/2 cup crumbled feta
1/2 cup extra-virgin oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Directions:
Combine arugula, strawberries and feta in a large bowl. Whisk oil, vinegar, sugar, paprika, sesame seeds and poppy seeds in a small bowl. Pour dressing over salad and gently toss before serving.

5 ways to use a can of tuna.

Bored? Try this tarragon tilapia recipe.

Looking for a drink to go with all the delicious Memorial Day BBQ? Try this drink by Grey Goose vodka – but don’t drink it around any bees!

THE GREY GOOSE “HEATHER 81″

2 parts GREY GOOSE® Vodka

3/4 parts honey

1/2 part hot water

6 mint leaves, plus more mint leaves for garnish

1/2 part Drambuie®

piece of honeycomb for garnish

• In a cocktail shaker combine honey, hot water and 6 mint leaves and muddle well.
• Add ice, GREY GOOSE® Vodka and Drambuie.
• Shake well and strain into rocks glass filled with ice.
• Garnish with mint leaves and piece of honeycomb.

Hello Beautiful’s Guide to Memorial Day Weekend

RECIPE: Blackberry Limeade

We’ve got another summer treat for ya! This time we bring you yummy frozen chocolate banana popsicles!

Frozen Chocolate Banana Popsicle Recipe

• 5 bananas, just ripe
• 10 wooden popsicle sticks
• 1 cup peanuts, finely chopped
• 3 cups chocolate syrup, dark hard shell

1. Peel bananas, cut in half and insert popsicle sticks into each half.

2. Cover each banana in hard chocolate sauce.

3. Roll each banana in chopped peanuts and freeze for 3 hours.

Check out HB’s Memorial Day Guide here!

Other Great Recipes On HB:

Miso Soup

Classic Eggs Beneidct

Almond-Banana Smoothies

Baby Bran Muffins

Chile Lime Tequila Popcorn

Ginger Jeweled Salad

Golden-Crusted Brussels Sprouts

This classic breakfast eggs recipe will have you eating like a queen for very little money! This eggs benedict recipe from sheknows.com is super simple to follow and is great for Sunday brunch!

Classic Eggs Benedict

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 4 egg yolks
• 3-1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 pinch ground white pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 eggs
• 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
• 8 strips Canadian-style bacon
• 4 English muffins, split
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened

Get flat abs without doing crunches!

Directions:
1. Over a double boiler, whisk egg yolks, lemon juice, pepper, Worcestershire and 1 tablespoon water. Whisk in melted butter and continue whisking until mixture is combined and begins to thicken. Stir in salt. Take pan off of heat and reserve hollandaise in a warm place.

2. Meanwhile, fill a deep skillet with about 3 inches of water. Bring water to a low boil and add vinegar. Break eggs one at a time into water. It may be easier to break eggs into a bowl and pour them into the water. Poach eggs 2 to 3 minutes, until white has solidified and yolk is still runny. Remove eggs with a slotted spoon and place on a plate.

3. While eggs are poaching, brown ham in a buttered skillet and toast English muffins. To assemble, spread butter on muffins and top with ham, then eggs, then drizzle with hollandaise.

Click here for a Baby Bran Muffin recipe!

Variations on Eggs Benedict
Be creative with the traditional Eggs Benedict and you may just like your rendition better than the restaurant recipe. Here are some tasty twists.

* Substitute classic Canadian bacon with a few slices of thinly sliced Italian prosciutto.
* Add spinach (or creamed spinach) to the mix or substitute it for the ham.
* Use American style strips of crispy bacon instead of ham.
* Instead of English muffins use toasted corncakes.
* Mini pita breads or simple toast make a good base instead of English muffins.
* If you want a super quick cheesy sauce instead of making hollandaise, melt American cheese over the poached eggs underneath a broiler.
* Substitute crab cakes in the Maryland style for the ham and add horseradish to the sauce.
* Add sautéed mushrooms in place of ham and drizzle a creamy mushroom sauce over the eggs.
* Make Norwegian style benedict with smoked salmon, dill and a cream cheese sauce.
* Substitute asparagus for ham for a vegetarian-style Benedict.
* Marinated artichoke hearts or sliced tomatoes also make a great substitution for ham.
* Sausage patties and sausage gravy are a good variation on ham and hollandaise – be sure to use a country style biscuit instead of an English muffin.
* Scallops, lobster or shrimp add a delicious flavor in place of ham.
* Fried eggs can be used in place of poached eggs.
* Corned beef, scrapple or hash browns can be exchanged for ham.
* California style replaces the ham and hollandaise with avocado and salsa. Use a bagel instead of the English muffin.
* Béchamel sauce can be substituted for hollandaise.
* Chorizo and peppers make a benedict with Spanish flair.
* For a very luxurious take on Eggs Benedict, substitute foie gras for ham and top with caviar or add truffles to the sauce.

With summer around the corner we can’t wait for smoothie season to start! The heat often quells hunger and sometimes you just need a cold creamy smoothie to cool you off and fill your belly. Check out this light and refreshing recipe from epicurious.com below!

Almond-Banana Smoothies

Ingredients:

• 2 large ripe bananas, peeled, sliced
• 2 cups almond milk or whole milk
• 2 cups ice cubes
• 2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Ground nutmeg

Fight MS with vitamin D!

Instructions:

Blend first 5 ingredients in blender until smooth. Divide smoothies among 4 small glasses. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg.

Check out 10 Ways To Boost Your Energy Level here!

Money is getting tight and the boyfriend and yours truly are constantly trying to find ways to curb our spending.  Last night we realized we haven’t gone out for dinner in a couple of weeks and I suggested why not have date night at home.

15 recession friendly wedding tips

Home can be the most romantic setting with a little effort. Set the mood, light some candles and enjoy a bottle of wine with dinner at a much more reasonable price. One of my favorite wines is a Sauvignon Blanc by Kim Crawford which you can get for $14.

Here’s an easy inexpensive recipe for your next date night at home:

Sauteed Chicken in Mustard-Cream Sauce

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6 ounces each)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine, or chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream (I used half and half with fine results)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dried tarragon (or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh)

Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken; saute until cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes, turning once. Transfer to a plate; keep warm.

Pour wine into hot skillet; cook, stirring, until reduced by half, about 1 minute. Whisk in cream, mustard, and tarragon. Cook, whisking, until thickened, about 2 minutes.

Pour any accumulated chicken juices into sauce. Right before serving, drizzle cream sauce over chicken. Serve with steamed asparagus.

This meal will cost you no more than $7, as you already have most of the ingredients in your home. Try getting this meal at a restaurant for such a cheap price.

(recipe courtesy of everydayfood.com)

The First Lady is also curbing her spending, check out our First Recessionista gallery:

[From BlackDoctor.org]

Have you ever looked at the ingredients that appear on the back of your frozen dinner? Looks more like the components of a chemistry project than a nutritious meal, huh? Ever wonder why so many bizarre additives are in a Salisbury steak? Well, for one, they enable your microwave to transform an icy block into something that looks, smells, and tastes relatively similar to fresh food. Some also ensure that a box of spaghetti and meatballs always tastes the same, whether it was made in Nebraska or North Carolina.

While some ingredients sound scary, they’ve all been deemed safe to eat by the FDA, to find out exactly what we’re eating, we asked a panel of experts to analyze a typical meal of chicken Parm with a side of broccoli and baked apples for dessert. You’ll be as shocked as we were to discover that a few of the items lead double lives – as condom lubricants and explosives.

What you can see…

Chicken Breast

Unless the box reads chik’n, rest assured it’s a real clucker, one that most likely grew up on a U.S. poultry farm. But that’s about all you can know for sure. The chicken probably feasted on conventional grains, and unless the label says otherwise, the bird may have been treated with antibiotics to keep it healthy. The breading and batter contain flour, yeast, and oil – nothing unusual so far. Oleoresin paprika (paprika that’s oil-soluble and easily dissolves in sauce) adds flavor and color. And while Grandma’s recipe calls for dredging your chicken breast in egg to make the breading stick, the food industry uses guar gum instead. (Eggs can become contaminated easily and are more expensive than guar gum.) Made from the guar bean, a major crop in India and Pakistan, it has thickening properties that also help make paper, oil-drilling fluid, and explosives. Bam!

Pasta and Sauce

Just like most pasta, these noodles are made of semolina flour, water, and egg whites. The sauce contains the usual: diced tomatoes and ­tomato juice, most likely from Ohio, Indiana, or California, which is where many tomato-processing companies are located.

Broccoli

The veggie’s birthplace varies depending on when and where it’s in season, freshest, and cheapest–if it’s July, it could be Maine; September, California; December, South America. Imme­diately after harvest, the produce is blanched and flash-frozen, which preserves nutrients.

Apples

Like broccoli, apples come from wherever they’re ripe. Because cooked apples turn a nauseating gray or brown color when frozen, they’re treated with ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and citric acid (the chemical compound that makes a lemon sour). This prevents the apples from reacting with oxygen so they maintain their golden hue.

And now, what you can’t…

Find out what’s lurking in your frozen dinners by clicking here!

Being pressed for time is no excuse for lacking a good meal! Ditch the TV dinner and click here for a couple quick and easy recipes.