Keeping it simple May 4, 2012

Whew, this spring has been a whirlwind! Even so, we have been managing to enjoy some pretty good meals while staying on a decent time and money budget. Staying on top of menu-planning has really helped us avoid last minute meals out, which always seem to leave our pocketbooks empty and our tummies overfull.
My menu-planning goal recently has been to eat cheap, healthy, and with minimal mess. And that means lots of planned overs. And grilling. Which is fun in our warm spring weather!

I have stuck with two main marinades for the past couple months, and will usually grill once a week or so. that usually gives me two meat and veggie dinners, and one where I add beans or turn the leftover meat into a soup to extend it a little. Voila! Three dinners for the time and cleanup of one!

Tex Mex marinade (for 4 servings)
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp tequila (tenderizes, but not necessary for a great flavor)
salt to taste
Marinade chicken pieces for half an hour before tossing on the grill or in the oven.

Chicken, Pork, or Venison marinade (for 4 servings)
1 tbsp Montreal steak seasoning
2 tbsps olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp garlic
marinade meat overnight or all day in this one for great flavor.

My other time saving trick has been to chop a couple of tomatoes and cucumbers, and mix them up in a glass lock container. When dinner time comes, I mix a scoop of this “greek salad” with my spinach or mixed greens, for a colorful salad. I wash my cutting board one time, rather than chopping and cleaning every night we have a salad. Less fuss, less mess, and I can usually get three salads out of it.

What are some other favorite marinades? Also, I’m trying to find good oven-fried chicken recipes – any recommendations?

applesauce! May 4, 2012

So I realize this is incredibly late, but better late than never, right?  

I decided to try my hand at homemade applesauce, using an apple peeler and my kitchen aid attachment.

First we peeled.

 

steamed

and processed with the kitchen aid.

End result tasted great, but I was a little disappointed with how much was wasted.

 Next time, I will just peel, core, steam with a few of the peelings just to get a little more flavor, and then toss it (including some of the peelings) into my trusty vita mix.  The coring may add a little time, but I think it will save me a lot of sauce. 

pizza! April 3, 2012

I believe I just found my ultimate pizza recipe.  Inspired by my March 2012 Bon Appetit magazine, I decided to follow their pizza crust recipe.  With a few changes, of course.

1 cup white flour

2 cups red (regular) whole wheat flour

4.5 cups hard white wheat flour (I purchased mine from azure standard)

4 tsps salt (it was a bit salty –  I think I’ll do 3 next time)

1/2 tsp active dry yeast

Pour all ingredients in Kitchenaid bowl and blend.  Add 2 cups of lukewarm water while slowly mixing.  switch to dough hook, and add one more cup of warm water.  Knead with hook for 3 minutes.  Dough will be very wet and sticky.

Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled, about 6 hours in a 78-degree kitchen with Houston humidity.

Add a handful of flour, punch down, and divide into 4 balls.  Follow the rest of bon appetit’s recipe here.

I  topped with mozzarella cheese, a bit of barilla spaghetti sauce, some canned diced tomatoes, frozen spinach, herbs de provence, and sprinkling of grated pecorino romano cheese.  I tried it using a baking sheet and a pizza stone, and both turned out great!  The second pizza was good too – I just added some sautéed peppers and onions in lieu of the spinach.  As for dough balls 3 and 4, I turned one into a loaf of yummy herb bread (baked a 350 for about 35 minutes) and will probably try to make a calzone out of the other for lunch later this week.

quick & healthy spinach potato soup February 5, 2012

I was inspired by the baby spinach and crouton soup recipe in Gourmet Today – but this is the quick & cheap version:

3 russet potatoes, cubed

1 10oz pkg frozen spinach

1/2 onion, diced

1 tsp each butter and olive oil

1 cup milk

2 tbsps chicken base

Place potatoes in a couple cups of water and simmer.  Place spinach on top of potatoes and let it steam while potatoes are cooking.  Meanwhile, sautee onion in 1 tsp butter, 1 tsp olive oil until brown and translucent.

Blend onion, cooked potatoes, spinach, milk, and chicken base (or vegetable stock if you want to go vegetarian).  Add water until soup is desired thickness.    Serve with bacon bits, cheese, yogurt, or crackers.

What’s cooking in my kitchen February 5, 2012

Well, it has finally happened.  I’m down to the last few freezer meals that friends made me, after trying to stretch them out for weeks, and I’m back to cooking full-time!  So far I have been doing a lot of planned-overs to minimize my time in the kitchen prepping dinner, and especially time cleaning up after dinner.  Minimal cleanup is my favorite part of eating leftovers!

I read a great blog article on the power of review, and was motivated to start reviewing my 20-minute meal – menu-planning this year.  So here goes my menu review for the last couple weeks of January:

Weekly menus:

Breakfasts:  alternate oatmeal, granola, and eggs/toast.  Oranges and grapefruit every morning.

Lunch:  leftovers once, pbj sandwiches twice, sardines and crackers once a week, and lunch with Daddy once (mommy eats leftovers or salad)

S:  Grilled chicken and veggies

M:  poached eggs and chickpeas in tomato sauce (I halved the recipe and added Russian kale from the garden – it’s the only thing other than chives that the rabbits haven’t eaten)

T:  Spaghetti squash with meat sauce (reserve half the browned beef for tacos later) with steamed mixed Normandy blend frozen veggies

W:  planned overs

Th: tacos (with leftover chicken and ground beef), homemade tortillas, salsa, and tomatoes

Fri: bean soup from the freezer

Sat: I like to keep this open, since I usually grocery shop either Friday night or Saturday morning.

S:  This menu sounded good – until I remembered that Sunday my dear hubby would be at AWANA and I didn’t want to grill the chicken by myself; so we grilled on Saturday and enjoyed the lovely weather.  That meant leftover chicken on salad for Sunday dinner.

M:  The eggs and chickpea recipe was a new one – and we were pleasantly surprised.  Even the kids liked it!

T:  Didn’t get the squash in the oven on time, so I just did regular noodles for spaghetti day.

Th:  tacos were a hit!   I hadn’t made homemade tortillas before, and while the flavor was great, they were pretty time-consuming.  Next time I’ll just buy them fresh from HEB

Fri:    we lucked out when a neighbor brought over some leftover lamb roast.  Hubby also completed his final round of leadership classes at Rice University, which was cause for celebration!  Forget the soup – we had lamb with spaghetti squash tomatoes, and spinach salad with chopped dried apricots, gorgonzola, pecans, and orange marmalade dressing.  Yum!

Sunday through Wedneday I met my 20 minute goal – but Thursday the tortillas put me over the edge, and Friday, well, the fabulous meal was worth it.

Does anyone else find that menus don’t always go as planned?

The next week was a little better:

M: freezer meal

T: spaghetti

W:  Roast chicken and roasted veggies

Th planned-overs

F:  date night at a Thai restaurant

I actually followed it exactly!  And because none of the recipes were new, I knew they were quick and easy to prepare.  An azure standard trip Tuesday and a Costco trip on Friday night also made for a variety of healthy snack and lunch foods:  dates, carrots, spinach, grapes, and twenty pounds of organic apples.

This week I’m keeping it a little more simple:

S:  spinach and potato soup

M:  turkey, rice and salad

T:  chili (reserve some of the ground beef for later)

W:  mediterranean lentils and rice

Th:  tacos (with leftover ground beef)

Fri:  planned-overs

And somewhere in there I’m going to try my hand at homemade applesauce – I’ll let you know how it works!

Simple Nutrition Resolutions January 21, 2012

I have a 5-week old baby, a 4 year-old that I’m homeschooling, and a 2 year-old that is potty training.  When it comes to new year’s resolution, survival and sleep are at the top of my list in 2012!  Last year I had 2 goals:

1) find a fabulous lentil soup recipe

2) Keep dinner prep to under 20 minutes

For the first, I love the lentil soup at http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2006/12/french_lentil_soup

For the second, I think I did pretty well on average.  Some days I would spend lot more than 20 minutes, but those days I would often have leftovers which cut the time the next day.

Nothing extraordinary, but sometimes having simple goals when you are starting a fresh new year makes it easier to make those little changes that make life better.  When making nutrition-related resolutions, it is important to remember that not only is it true that you are what you eat, but it’s also true that you eat what you are.

For example, a stay at home mom on a tight budget will eat differently than a CEO who frequents fancy restaurants for business lunches.  If your goal this year is to run a marathon, your nutrition needs and eating habits are different from those of someone who is going back to school and working full-time.

I would love to start a recipe club this year and share recipes with other women who love to cook.

I would love to make or at least try every food on the “100 Foods to Eat Before You Die” food list challenge that’s been going around Facebook.

I would like to run 2-3 5ks.

And I would love to try one new gourmet recipe a week.

Realistically, I might get to one of those, possibly all of those sometime this year, but certainly not this month.  For now, I just have two simple resolutions for 2012.

1) plan my menus weekly (and stick to them as much as possible!).  In order to eat nutritiously and deliciously, I have found that I have to plan menus.  I love grocery shopping (call me weird), but I know that it will be much more difficult toting three lovely children and I’ll have to limit my shopping trips.

2) Eat veggies twice a day (we did well in 2010, but slacked off last year when my morning sickness disallowed most veggies and salads).

What life changes are you looking at this year?  What are your nutrition goals or plans to support those goals and changes?

personality test: why one size doesn’t fit all January 21, 2012

Why does weight watchers work wonders for some, but not all?  Why can some people lose weight just by deciding to exercise a little more and cut down on the junk food?

a recent post on “the happiness project” blog

reminded me that one program doesn’t work for everyone.  This blog poses the question “are you an abstainer or a moderator?”  It may make the difference between success and failure, or be the deciding factor in which health program you choose.

I like to expand our “diet personality test” with the following questions:

Are you motivated by groups or do you like go it alone?  (would you rather go for a walk alone or meet up with a group for zumba?)

Do you like to track numbers, or do you like to keep it simple? (e.g., would you rather count calories and points and pounds lost, or just eat veggies twice a day and limit portions until your jeans are one size smaller?)

Hamlet’s words “to thine own self be true” ring just as true today as they did back then.  Have you dropped your new year’s nutrition resolution?  Given up on dieting all together?  Try a program that fits your personality this year and let me know how it works for you.

“the happiness project” January 9, 2012

“the happiness project”

Simple Nutrition Resolutions January 5, 2012

I have a 5-week old baby, a 4 year-old that I’m homeschooling, and a 2 year-old that is potty training.  When it comes to new year’s resolution, survival and sleep are at the top of my list in 2012!  Last year I had 2 goals:  

1) find a fabulous lentil soup recipe

2) Keep dinner prep to under 20 minutes

For the first, I love the lentil soup at http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2006/12/french_lentil_soup

For the second, I think I did pretty well on average.  Some days I would spend lot more than 20 minutes, but those days I would often have leftovers which cut the time the next day.  

Nothing extraordinary, but sometimes having simple goals when you are starting a fresh new year makes it easier to make those little changes that make life better.  When making nutrition-related resolutions, it is important to remember that not only is it true that you are what you eat, but it’s also true that you eat what you are.

For example, a stay at home mom on a tight budget will eat differently than a CEO who frequents fancy restaurants for business lunches.  If your goal this year is to run a marathon, your nutrition needs and eating habits are different from those of someone who is going back to school and working full-time.

I would love to start a recipe club this year and share recipes with other women who love to cook.

 I would love to make or at least try every food on the “100 Foods to Eat Before You Die” food list challenge that’s been going around Facebook.   

I would like to run 2-3 5ks.

And I would love to try one new gourmet recipe a week.

Realistically, I might get to one of those, possibly all of those sometime this year, but certainly not this month.  For now, I just have two simple resolutions for 2012.

1) plan my menus weekly (and stick to them as much as possible!).  In order to eat nutritiously and deliciously, I have found that I have to plan menus.  I love grocery shopping (call me weird), but I know that it will be much more difficult toting three lovely children and I’ll have to limit my shopping trips.

2) Eat veggies twice a day (we did well in 2010, but slacked off last year when my morning sickness disallowed most veggies and salads).  

What life changes are you looking at this year?  What are your nutrition goals or plans to support those goals and changes?

a little something sweet December 29, 2011

 

 

I confess, I have a sweet tooth.  I also know that too much sugar makes me feel sluggish, and when our family enjoys too many sweet treats we are much more susceptible to the germs around us.  While we have certainly been enjoying our fair share of holiday cookies, I can tell we will all benefit from enjoying just a little less sweet this next month.  Here are my favorite strategies for cutting the sugar while keeping the flavor.

 

1)      Watch the drinks – it’s easy to drink 500 calories in one holiday latte or a super large soda from the gas station.  Try unsweetened tea, coffee with skim milk, or one of my favorites – mineral water with a splash of pomegranate juice instead.

2)      Read the label.  If that breakfast cereal or snack has more than twice as much sugar as fiber in it, just leave it on the shelf.  If the first ingredient is sugar,

3)      Make it, don’t buy it.   If cookies are in our pantry or ice cream is in our freezer, we tend to eat that rather than wholesome fruits and veggies for snacks.  Our rule of thumb is to either make treats from scratch or buy something fun if we have a plan to share with guests or entertaining.

4)      Change the recipe.  I can usually cut the sugar by up to 1/3 before it really affects the taste and texture.

5)      Still have that craving?  Try eating more protein early on in the day (like eggs for breakfast, meat and a sandwich for lunch, or a greek yogurt for snack) to cut the mid-afternoon munchies.  Adding more veggies and nuts for snacks can also help.

6)      Lastly, are you really craving sugar?  Sometimes we are just struggling with one of the 3 Ts:  tired, tense or thirsty, when we think we need sugar.  I have the hardest time resisting sugar when I haven’t had enough sleep.  That doesn’t mean I need it though, and I find I feel much better after a 10 minute walk outside and a glass of water than I do after munching on something sweet.

 

What do you do to lower your sugar intake?