DASH Diet Recipes - Fish Chowder, Garlic Black Pepper Salad Dressing

(Don't panic - my daughter is typing this for me. I don't want to lose these recipes!) Two great recipes for those on the DASH diet (low sodium, low fat, heart healthy) CREAMY FISH CHOWDER 1 slice turkey bacon, diced 1 tsp salt-free butter 1 stalk celery, diced 1 small onion, diced 1 clove garlic, minced 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth 8 ounces tilapia or cod fillets, cut into 1-inch cubes 1 med. potato, peeled and diced (about 2 cups) 1/4 tsp dried tyme 1/8 tsp dried dill 1 bay leaf 2/3 cup no-fat milk 1/2 can no sodium corn 1 tbsp water 2 tsp cornstarch Ground black pepper to taste Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add diced bacon and salt-free butter and cook, stirring often, until crisp. Remove bacon with slotted spoon and reserve. Add onion, celery and garlic to bacon/butter drippings and cook until softened. Add chicken broth, fish, potatoes, thyme, dill, and bay leaf and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to maintain simmer, and cook until potatoes are tender (10-12 minutes). Discard bay leaf. Transfer about half of the fish/potatoes mixture to a bowl with slotted spoon, and mash mixture with potato masher. Return to pot and add milk and corn. Bring back to simmer. Whisk water and cornstarch in a small container. When soup is simmering, gradually add the cornstarch and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 1 minute. Season with pepper. Garnish with reserved bacon bits. *Original recipe from LOW-SALT COOKBOOK: A COMPLETE GUIDE TO REDUCING SODIUM AND FAT IN YOUR DIET by American Heart Association; third edition. CREAMY BLACK PEPPER AND GARLIC DRESSING 1/2 cup fat-free mayonnaise 1/2 cup fat-free milk 1 tbsp dijon mustard 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper 1 medium garlic clove, minced Put all contents in a small jar and shake. This is a tastey salad dressing, but we also use it as a sauce/flavor enhancer over chicken and fish and couscous!

OUCHies

I know I've not been posting much -- and even less on my precious Quilting on a Budget blog. I believe it will be six weeks or more before I can get back to posting on a regular basis. One day Mr. B and I were in the car and he wanted a piece of gum. I fished around in my purse, got out the gum, and went to hand it to him -- he was sitting in his car seat in the middle of the back seat. I felt something "go" in my shoulder but didn't think much about it. Same scenario, same series of events two weeks later. Same "ouchie" in my shoulder. I started to notice I couldn't lay on my right side to sleep, because my shoulder hurt. Then it got worse and worse. I went to the doctor and, as is pretty standard with a primary physican these days, she did nothing, but sent me on to an orthoepedic specialist. It took me two weeks to get an appointment. Meanwhile, if I took my jacket off without thinking, or something fell and I went to grab it, more ouchies - only the ouchies were getting worse and more frequent. The Ortho specialist gave me a cortisone shot in my shoulder and a prescription for anti-inflammatory medicine. No results. I waited a week because someone told me to cortisone shot can take awhile to kick in. When I called in a week, it took me another two weeks to get an appointment. Meanwhile, every time I tried to wash windows or scrub tubs, the shoulder was hurting more. Got into the ortho specialist last week, and he sent me for an MRI. Took me two days to get in there, and finally back to my ortho specialist today. I have torn a tendon in my rotator cuff. I'm off to physical thereapy three times a week for six weeks. Hopefully, no surgery. At the moment, two things bother me the most. Sleeping and being on the computer. I'm lucky that sewing and quilting do not bother me, so I'm getting a lot of Christmas presents made! But I'm here, I'm fine, I'm on the mend, but I really need to stay off the computer for a few weeks until my shoulder heals. I guess it's something about the positioning of the keyboard or the way my arm rests on the computer desk that aggravates the shoulder - but I really need to get this healed so I can get on with my life! I don't do pain well, believe me. So Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, happy holidays, Merry Christmas --- and I hope to be back before the New Year. If you see me posting on here before that - swat me!!!