Monthly Archives: January 2012

Super Bowl Party feast and what to do with leftovers

Posted on January 31, 2012 | Leave a comment

I’m taking a break from hosting the Super Bowl party this year, so below you can find my menu from last year and what we decided to do with leftovers.  I will try to add the recipes to this site this week, but as some of you have guessed by following my blog and twitter for the past year, I often times don’t use recipes and just post the names for my meal items so you can be flexible in your planning.  For the Chili you can use my New England chili recipe and replace the beef with ground turkey.  The Boneless Buffalo tenders where just strips of skinless chicken breast soaked in a buttermilk/hot sauce mix, dipped in panko crumbs and baked.  My Queso is homemade with REAL cheddar cheese, I never use velveeta or any other processed cheese products, so that will be a recipe I try to add for  you.  The recipe at Eating Well was the inspiration for my queso, although I use white extra sharp cheddar, and suggest dicing the onion very fine!  And the Quesadillas were simply sautéed chicken, onions, peppers and I think spinach was also in there, placed between tortillas with a small amount of cheese and baked until the tortillas are lightly crisped and cheese melts.

Bean Dip from Eating Well

Cheers to your Healthy, Yummy Super Bowl Party!

If you are looking for other ideas and recipes to make your Super Bowl Party foods lighter and healthier, I highly suggest you start here at Eating Well magazine online.

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So, we had a pretty successful Super Bowl party last night (LAST YEAR! :-) , so much fun that I forgot to take pictures….not even of all the lovely food!

The quandary now is what to do with all the leftovers!  Here is our menu:

Southwest Layered Bean Dip, Baked Boneless Buffalo Tenders, Veggies and Blue Cheese dip, Turkey and Bean Chili, Queso, Cornbread, Guacamole and Salsa and Chicken and Veggie Quesadillas.

The Leftovers: TWO whole pans of uncooked chicken tenders (all marinated and breaded, just not baked yet), 3/4 of the bean dip (the kind covered with lettuce, tomatoes and avocado), chili, LOTS of Queso and Cornbread and the chicken and veggies for quesadillas is all cooked and separated in storage containers.

So, how much can I freeze and what do I have to use up today?  I’m pretty sure I can freeze the chicken tenders as they are, the chili can be frozen, as well as the cornbread.  But what do I do with the Queso, bean dip and quesadilla fillings?  Sounds like we’ll be having chicken and bean enchiladas/quesadillas or tex-mex salads for the next 2-3 meals!

Anyone have any other suggestions?  Maybe a chicken tortilla soup??  Please help me use up this yummy food…….

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Juicer follow up

Posted on January 25, 2012 | Leave a comment

As expected, my kids wanted to try lots of fruit only combinations, so I allowed them 2 days of mixing their choice of fruits to see what they could come up with.

As the sticky note says on the photo below, this glass was made from one orange (peeled and seeded), one lemon (peeled and seeded), one Bosc pear (seeded) and 1/4 cup red grapes.  It produced about 14 ounces of juice which the kids thought was good but still a tad sour.  I did not let them sweeten any of the juices with anything other than fresh fruits.

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This next one was 3 small granny smith apples, seeded and a 1/2 cup frozen cranberries (NOT sweetened).

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As expected, this did not produce a lot of juice, about 6 ounces, and was very sour due to the whole cranberries and these apples were sour to begin with.

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This juice also separated quite a bit, which upset my daughter!  Oh well, that’s what experiments are for.

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My final juicing experiment was with a sweet potato and apples.  I was truly surprised how much juice came out of one small-medium sweet potato.  It was okay tasting, however it remained somewhat chalky in feel.  I much prefer the taste of a baked sweet potato, warm and soft and naturally sweet!

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So, our conclusion for our particular family……we will continue to eat our fruits and vegetables fresh and cooked and occasionally throw frozen fruits into the blender; but the time, cleaning and food waste associated with a juicer is not for us at this time.  This is only my personal opinion.  I do love the taste of fresh squeezed juice over commercially prepared juices, and I do recommend the juicing of fresh fruits and vegetables to certain clients with particular nutritional challenges.

I hope our little home experiment gave you some insight into the use of juicers and blenders if you are trying to add more fruits and vegetables to your diet and were wondering what might work for you.

Feel free to continue to share your success or failures with juicing or smoothies and please post recipes that you would recommend.

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Posted in Cooking with Kids, Drinks

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Juicer vs. Blender Experiment #1 Oranges and Spinach

Posted on January 20, 2012 | 4 Comments

My lovely friend Cat let me borrow her amazing Breville Juicer so I could conduct a little in-home experiment comparing the same ingredients in a Juicer VS a Blender to see what my family prefers.  First on the menu today was oranges and spinach!

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The plan was to use 3 oranges and one cup spinach for each device and compare the results.  As you can see, my oranges were pretty small, so in order to make enough juice for all 4 of us to taste test I had to add a total of 5 oranges to this one large cup of loosely packed spinach for the Juicer.  I prepared the ingredients exactly the same way for each device:  peeled and seeded the oranges, washed and  dried the spinach in a salad spinner.  Below is one large glass of GREEN ORANGE JUICE with a few ice cubes to keep it cold.  This glass holds 16 ounces of liquid.

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Next up was the Blender with 3 oranges and one cup spinach.  My blender is not a super-duper blender, but it can handle most items.  It is a Waring Pro with hi and lo speeds.  Same size glass. So the blender produced more final product from only 3 oranges because there is no waste from what you put in the blender.

Now, on to the taste testing!  The juicer definitely won in the taste testing reviews as the blended version still has plenty of orange pulp and an occasional small piece of orange skin from the middle or between sections (all of which you would probably eat had you peeled and eaten an orange alone).  Flavor was about the same, the spinach was not any stronger in the blender version even though it had 2 fewer oranges in it.

Everyone was fascinated watching the juicer do it’s work, and my kids left for school talking about what they wanted to try next!  Of course, they are mostly interested in all-fruit combinations (they had to try an orange, apple and grapefruit before we left for school…that received a thumbs up from them both). So we will try a few  more recipes over the next couple days, and if I can continue to snap up pictures before they drink it up I will post!

As an added bonus to this experiment….my composting worms will have a blast with all this fruit pulp and skins!

Please share your experiences with juicers or blender smoothies and which you prefer.

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Posted in Cooking with Kids, Drinks, locally grown, Recipes

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Green Smoothie (GF, DF, V)

Posted on January 17, 2012 | 3 Comments

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Sharing my first green smoothie recipe.  I have not done this before, nor have I tried juicing, simply because I really like to eat my fruits and vegetables!  But seeing how many clients have been asking me for simple recipes that they can make quickly for busy mornings or afternoons on the run I wanted to test some so I can fully recommend them as tasty and easy!

So, today’s test included:

One fresh Texas Grapefruit, peeled and seeded

One fresh Texas orange, peeled and seeded

Roughly one and a half cups of loosely packed fresh baby spinach

small cup of ice

4 chunks of frozen pineapple.

Blend the grapefruit and orange together, making sure no seeds got left behind (remove if you find one)!  Add spinach and ice and blend again until thoroughly blended.  Add pineapple and blend one last time.  Feel free to thin with water or thicken with more ice if needed.  Enjoy!  Makes at least 16 ounces, so share or split and keep half in a sealed glass container in the fridge until you are ready for more. :-)

This recipe is Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free and Vegan!

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Posted in Drinks, locally grown, Recipes

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Flatbread Pizza, another tasty way to use Kale!

Posted on January 16, 2012 | 2 Comments

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Flatbread pizza on the grill!  This was a really tasty and quick dinner idea that made good use of some leftover vegetables.  A whole grain flatbread, topped with tomato sauce and italian seasonings, a little cheddar cheese, red and green peppers and onions that had been sautéed the night before for fajitas and some fresh kale.  Simply delicious!

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Comfort Foods on a cold day. Hearty “New England Style” Chili and Corny Cornbread.

Posted on January 13, 2012 | 2 Comments

Yesterday was a cold 40 degree day and I was inspired to make a pot of Chili  and fresh-baked corn bread to warm me from the inside out. Now, I know my Vermont and Minnesota friends are laughing at me for calling 40 degrees in January COLD, and my Texas friends are laughing that I call this recipe Chili because it contains beans, but I’m posting it just the same! :-)  I have also decided to enter our neighborhood chili cook-off next month with 2 different chili recipes, so stay tuned for those recipes to be added after the event.

Notice the little side of Beano?!?  Just in case…. ;-)

Andrea’s Hearty New England Chili

This recipe is very adaptable to suit the tasted of your family.  You can substitute ground turkey or chicken for the sirloin, any tomatoes will work and you can add diced jalapeños too if your heart, and stomach, desire!

28 ounces Ro-tel diced tomatoes with green chilies
27 ounces Pinto beans, rinsed and drained
27 ounces Kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 lb. ground sirloin, lean
1.5 small yellow onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, green, diced
1 bell pepper, red, diced
1 tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. cayenne pepper

Servings/Yield: 12 servings | approx 6 quarts

1. Empty can of RoTel tomatoes into crock pot and turn on high. Rinse and drain both cans of beans and add to crock pot. Cover.
2. Brown meat and onions in fry pan with just a small amount of oil to prevent sticking. Add chili powder and cayenne pepper (if desired) to meat and stir to mix. Add to crock-pot once meat is no longer red.
3. Add peppers and stir all in pot. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour or until bubbly, reduce to low and cook 3-6 hours.
4. Enjoy your piping hot chili! Top with your choice of diced raw onion, fresh cilantro, shredded cheese, sour cream, diced avocado, scallions, etc.

Nutrition info per serving:  226kcal, Saturated fatty acids: 2.03g, Monounsaturated fatty acids: 2.30g, Polyunsaturated fatty acids: 0.63g, Total fat: 4.96g, Calories from fat: 44, Cholesterol: 33mg, Carbohydrate, by difference: 26.05g, Total dietary fiber: 7.38g, Protein: 18.28g, Total lipid (fat): 5.73g, Total sugars: 4.12g

Corny Corn Bread
  • 1.25 cups all-purpose flour
  • .75 cup corn meal
  • .25 cup brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • .5 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup milk, skim
  • .25 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 cup sweet corn
Servings/Yield: 9 servings | 18 squares
1.: Heat oven to 400ºF. Grease an 8 or 9 inch square pan. Combine dry ingredients. Stir in milk, oil and egg, mixing just until dry ingredients are moistened. Add corn and stir in. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until light golden brown and wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Nutrition Info per serving:   213kcal, Saturated fatty acids: 0.66g, Monounsaturated fatty acids: 4.77g, Polyunsaturated fatty acids: 1.36g, Total fat: 6.78g, Calories from fat: 61, Cholesterol: 21mg, Carbohydrate, by difference: 32.85g, Total dietary fiber: 1.42g, Protein: 4.85g

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The Perfect Diet

Posted on January 11, 2012 | 1 Comment

Why do Americans spend billions of dollars a year on fad diets, supplements, injections or other bogus weight loss gimmicks?  There is only ONE “diet” that works for true weight loss (losing excess fat not muscle) and long-term weight maintenance.  It’s not trendy, no gimmicks, no expensive products, no secret visits to the “med spa”, and no daily or monthly injections or pills!

Weight loss is most successful when achieved by lifestyle changes over a period of time.  You didn’t gain weight overnight, why would you expect to lose it all in 3 weeks?

Would you like to learn the habits of successful “losers” to lose extra weight and keep it off?  Here is a sampling of the first 3 highly effective habits to losing weight:

1. Consume a low-calorie, low-fat diet.

2. Have consistent food intake from day to day, and eat about four to five times per day.

3. Consistently eat breakfast.
Want to learn more?  Schedule a consult with a Registered Dietitian or ask your company to book a Wellness Presentation by a Registered Dietitian today.

But just in case you are still looking for an “actual” diet to help you reach your goals without seeing a Registered Dietitian, here is the latest comprehensive review of the top diets and why they might or might not work for you.  http://health.usnews.com/best-diet

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Posted in Dietary Guidelines

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My Plate example

Posted on January 10, 2012 | Leave a comment

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Thought I would share an example of a balanced dinner based on the myplate design (half of the plate contains fruits and vegetables, the other half is split between lean protein and whole grains).
This is a garden salad with balsamic vinaigrette and a fish taco on corn tortilla with salsa and avocado.

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Reach for whole foods instead of supplements. Heart Healthy Yogurt breakfast or snack recipe!

Posted on January 6, 2012 | 4 Comments

If you’ve decided that you need to add a few health promoting nutrients to your diet, look first at adding fresh, whole foods to your intake before you reach for dietary supplements.  Any time a macro- or micro-nutrient can be found in natural food sources vs. manufactured dietary supplements, it will be better digested and absorbed by your body.

Here’s a tasty breakfast or snack recipe that provides a great dose of Lean Protein, Calcium, Omega-3, Fiber, Vitamin E, Folic Acid and Vitamin C.  Based on my grocery costs for these items, per serving is $2.86.

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heart healthy yogurt breakfast
  • 1 cup chobani vanilla yogurt, place in bowl
  • 1.5 TBSP Flaxseed- ground, add to bowl
  • 2 TBSP Wheat Germ, add to bowl
  • .25 cup Raspberries, add to bowl
  • .25 cup Blueberries, add to bowl
  • .25 cup Blackberries, add to bowl
Servings/Yield: 1 servings | 1 serv
Rating: 
Source

ChefandreaRD
Categories

  • Ⓒ Breakfast
  • Ⓚ greek yogurt
Cuisine

North American
Nutritional notes:
328 Kcal, 40g CHO (24g sugars), 10g Fiber, 28g Protein, 300mg Calcium, 2mg Iron.

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Posted in Dietary Guidelines, Food, Meal planning, Recipes

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