In the Name of Healthy Eating

The last few months have been about establishing healthier eating habits.  I haven't shared a lot because healthier sometimes is a bit dull.  I will say that we've been more adventurous in our eating, such as willingness to try things like tempeh. Yesterday it was roast chicken enchiladas from ATK ' S Healthy Eating cookbook, last week it was mixing spaghetti squash with pasta.

Tonight was something new that I'd never think that Brian would suggest:  portobello mushroom burgers.  Yep....a big grilled mushroom cap on a whole wheat bun.  I thought that it was so-so, but he really liked them. 

I'm willing to try anything once, and this healthier game is no exception.

Fish Week

Two opportunities for fish this week.....first, my favorite fried seafood place is open for the season!  Brian suggested that we go there for lunch on Wednesday, and it didn't disappoint.  It never does.  :)  I had the fried haddock dinner and he got a fish sandwich.  We usually go like twice a year so next time I'll have their awesome fried clams.  I don't even eat fried clams other places anymore, they're sad replacements for this real deal.

Now, to balance all that fried deliciousness, we had something healthier the night before.  Swordfish with a grapefruit and avocado salsa.  It was pretty good!  Grapefruit salsa wasn't something I ever pictured myself eating but it was quite refreshing.  I'd definitely make it again.

Weird Cooking Methods

Last week we made a shrimp and pasta recipe that was.....not good shall we say.  It was out of a healthy eating cookbook and featured lemon, red pepper, cream cheese and whole wheat pasta.  First of all, it took forever to make.  That is likely because you are supposed to put the shrimp and cream cheese into the sauce OFF the heat, stir a bit, then cover for seven minutes and let the shrimp "cook."  I took the lid off the pan and found mostly-raw shrimp and cream cheese melted into this unattractive "hunks."  Brian put the whole thing back on the stove and got it made, but the lemon juice (from two large lemons, way too much!) with the red pepper was just overpowering.  We put the leftovers in the fridge, and threw them out a week later.

I guess that not every meal can be a star.  This one certainly wasn't!

Weekend Eats

This past weekend brought to you by the letter "S."  "S" is for salad, salmon and stew.

Lunch on Saturday was a game of "What can we use up?"  A quick scan of ingredients put together a salad of spinach and arugula, sliced avocado and the leftover frozen scallops wrapped in bacon from Valentine's Day last month.  (Of course we cooked them first.  Frozen sounds barbaric.)  A spicy mayonnaise dressing tied it together nicely and it was a lot more filling than I would've surmised.  I wasn't really hungry til dinner!

And DINNER!     Another trip to the Disney cookbook from our trip last year, to salmon wrapped in phyllo dough. It also had a lovely spinach, cream cheese and sundried tomato filling with the salmon.  It was in a oft-used word, awesome.  I can't wait to have the last one for lunch today.

And finally, stew.  There's a new collection of cookbooks at the library from Good Housekeeping, each volume is "400 calories or less."  I brought home the Comfort Foods one and we made the chicken pot pie and "light" beef and broccoli a few weeks ago.  This time I brought home "Italian" and "Chicken Dishes."  Going through the Italian book on Friday night I decided to try the lentil stew with butternut squash.  Lentils aren't something we typically eat, but once I saw the protein and fiber counts I decided to give it a try.  (20 grams each, by the way.)  Fiber is a tough thing for hubby and I to get, but we're working on it.  It was a crockpot recipe, and it took about eight hours.  I didn't have the 2 lbs butternut squash that the recipe called for so I subbed in some carrots.  The result had good flavor and we'll eat it all this week at lunchtime.

So really, it was a good weekend in the kitchen, and all brought to you by the letter "S."  "S" is certainly a good letter for the kitchen.  :)

Eat Your Veggies!!

We're always looking for new, innovative ways to get more fruits and veggies.  OK.....we're always looking for ways to make them palatable and not eat as many carbs.  Brian and I are total carb lovers.
The first one was my idea:  baked zucchini parmesan.  And by "my" idea, I mean that I found it on Pinterest and decided to make it one night.  It was quite easy, and fresh too.  Served with some marinated chicken and a little penne.

I love to test-drive cookbooks before buying them, because it stinks to buy a book, like one or two recipes and despise the rest.  This is where the library really comes in handy.  I brought home a Good Housekeeping Book of comfort foods that are 400 calories or less.  These crockpot pulled pork sandwiches came out of it, as well as the recipe for "Honeyed radishes and turnips."  Normally I don't like turnip.  But this was surprisingly sweet and delicious!  I think it would also go well with kielbasa and a scoop of mashed potato.  

Sunday Comfort Food: Chicken and Dumplings

Sundays are good for a warm, comforting meal, especially in the winter.  This week we had chicken and dumplings.

Let me just tell you, the house smelled AMAZING while it cooked.  And why wouldn't it, with onions, celery, chicken thighs, carrots, broth and bread-y goodness that is the dumpling?  Snow was falling, food was simmering, it was an iconic Winter Sunday.

And best of all--three servings for leftovers, and it's another food that tastes even better the next day.  Happiness.

A Science Experiment (Or, Why I'm Never Eating Promise Again)

Every Friday this winter, I've hosted a Coffee Social at work.  Residents come down, pay a buck for coffee and a pastry, and get to do something besides stare at their own walls.  To change it up today, I offered bagels.

Bagels for a crowd is tough if you're using a toaster oven.  Or worse, a toaster.  So I got the idea of toasting them in the oven.  What do you suppose people did before there were toasters, besides eat the bagels soft??  I spread each one with butter and put it in the community room's oven and checked on it after about four minutes.  They all looked golden brown and delicious.  Only I ran out of butter.  And I didn't know if they would toast well with nothing on them.

A woman who lives on the first floor said that she had some, only it was Promise.  In the thick of it, I said sure.  I had several more bagels to toast and didn't want to disappoint anyone.

Here is where the science experiment comes in:  the bagels that were toasted with butter were crisper, and the butter "sank" into the bagel.  The bagels that were toasted with Promise....weren't.  They developed these oil slicks on top and the spread never soaked into the bagel.  I was unfortunate to get a bagel half dressed in Promise, and I can still taste the plastic-y aftertaste two hours later.

The weird thing for me is that I used to buy "buttery spreads" for years, and only in the last five or so have I switched to real butter.  When I was eating stuff like Promise on a regular basis, I didn't notice.  At the time I was also putting Splenda in my coffee and was no stranger to diet soda.  Actually, I am a former Diet Coke addict.  I drank it non-stop for about a year in college.  It was the first thing I bought every morning and I set a can down on my nightstand every night.  I probably drank a 12-pack of diet coke a day, the more that I had the more I wanted.  And I felt like crap.  Quitting was tough, too, the withdrawal headaches were insane!!

So, as far as I'm concerned, these fake butters are never coming in the house again.  I gave up on the Splenda some time ago.  It's best to go with the real things.  I'm not going to go crazy with the "this is real and I'm not eating this anymore" and cut all processed foods out of mine and my family's lives or anything.  I don't have time to make everything from scratch and neither does my husband.  But this is a change that I don't think we'll regret anytime soon.