The weekend was long. I am now rethinking snacking options. I got hungry and when I need something quick, spicy, crunchy, and protein filled, fresh almonds or pistachios don't fill the bill. I kept reaching for the pita chips, and unfortunately had purchased a large bag at Costco. :-/ I did have some hummus, which added some calories and protein to the chips. It helps to at least have something to "dip" chips in rather than eat chips all day long.
I need to find something (1) not wheat-filled or fried and hopefully (2) something I don't have to open the fridge all day long to get at. I am going to slice and prepare celery and carrots to munch on. We'll see how that works.
Saturday, January 27, 2018
Thai food in Sonora
The other day I finally talked Phil into going for a ride. Since he is thinking about getting a new truck, lunch and truck shopping was a no-brainer. We decided to drive up the hill to Sonora. It was a lovely day, a wonderful change from the overcast dreary days we had been having. Not to bore you with the details of our day, we eventually settled on lunch in downtown Sonora. It is cute, quaint downtown. There are several cute stores, but the restaurants come and go from that area.
Phil saw a Thai restaurant that looked cute. We found a place to park and walked to the restaurant. I am finding it more challenging to eat out, mostly because it takes me more time to peruse the menu and I really hate to pay for a 'meat-containing' item, have them hold the meat, and still get charged for it. At any rate, after looking at the menu, I finally found the Vegetarian page. I ordered vegetable Spring Rolls served with peanut sauce and a vegetable stir fry with red curry and rice. It was delicious. Thai will now be one of my go-to lunch stops. Phil ordered a grilled pork dish with rice. The pork was set atop a bed of cabbage and served with a chili oil.
Today at home, I digressed. I made beef stew. :-( At least it's two steps forward and one step back now. Also, I am not sure a little beef will kill me. There was an abundant of vegetables in the stew, so the beef:vegetable ratio favored the vegetables.
Phil saw a Thai restaurant that looked cute. We found a place to park and walked to the restaurant. I am finding it more challenging to eat out, mostly because it takes me more time to peruse the menu and I really hate to pay for a 'meat-containing' item, have them hold the meat, and still get charged for it. At any rate, after looking at the menu, I finally found the Vegetarian page. I ordered vegetable Spring Rolls served with peanut sauce and a vegetable stir fry with red curry and rice. It was delicious. Thai will now be one of my go-to lunch stops. Phil ordered a grilled pork dish with rice. The pork was set atop a bed of cabbage and served with a chili oil.
Today at home, I digressed. I made beef stew. :-( At least it's two steps forward and one step back now. Also, I am not sure a little beef will kill me. There was an abundant of vegetables in the stew, so the beef:vegetable ratio favored the vegetables.
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Where the heck is that recipe???
I have spent the last three days looking for a cool recipe for a nut-filled sweet treat that I had seen SOMEWHERE! What a frustration. I am thinking that once I get the hang of mixing and matching veges, grains, nuts, and beans, I will be OK. Until then, I still need a recipe to guide me.
Take the sweet treat recipe. It was a combination of pepitas, walnuts, maybe almonds or cashews (in reality, probably does not matter which nuts one uses), held together with maple syrup and coconut oil, baked at XXX for XXX. See? This is what I mean. Phil is starting to get used to not having cookies and candy around, but I really give him something to satisfy his sweet tooth (not to mention mine).
So...I thought I would start making a note of the recipes I see and use. Pinterest seems to be a good place to store recipes and ideas, but when I find them in a book, that is another story. Take today for instance. I thought I would make split pea soup and focaccia bread for dinner. I had to hit the last three cookbooks and Pinterest until I found it. Thankfully, I did. I still have not found the nut treat recipe. :-/
I found it in Forks Over Knives, the book. Page 91. I will not add it to my Fridge, Garden and Grocery Store blog until I know it is a keeper. So far, it is tasting pretty good. Stay tuned. Serving it tonight with focaccia and will probably have it tomorrow again. I work and hate to come home late and starving and still have to drum up dinner.
Take the sweet treat recipe. It was a combination of pepitas, walnuts, maybe almonds or cashews (in reality, probably does not matter which nuts one uses), held together with maple syrup and coconut oil, baked at XXX for XXX. See? This is what I mean. Phil is starting to get used to not having cookies and candy around, but I really give him something to satisfy his sweet tooth (not to mention mine).
So...I thought I would start making a note of the recipes I see and use. Pinterest seems to be a good place to store recipes and ideas, but when I find them in a book, that is another story. Take today for instance. I thought I would make split pea soup and focaccia bread for dinner. I had to hit the last three cookbooks and Pinterest until I found it. Thankfully, I did. I still have not found the nut treat recipe. :-/
I found it in Forks Over Knives, the book. Page 91. I will not add it to my Fridge, Garden and Grocery Store blog until I know it is a keeper. So far, it is tasting pretty good. Stay tuned. Serving it tonight with focaccia and will probably have it tomorrow again. I work and hate to come home late and starving and still have to drum up dinner.
Friday, January 19, 2018
How'd We do? It's Friday
Well, it has been a long week. Changing our diet is turning out to be a real struggle. I was just telling Phil about a patient of mine who sent me a chili recipe that sounded delicious. He also spent some time on the phone talking about the best way to purchase beef; not the best thing for me to hear the week I have decided to stop eating meat.
The week began by meeting a friend for coffee Monday. After that I had to run an errand and being starving, thought it best to eat something. The conundrum is to find some fast food that is good for me. I decided to stop by an Indian restaurant. I ordered some Samosa and Palak Paneer. Delicious. Not vegan, but no meat. Grocery store stop included:
Dinner Tuesday: Spinach-stuffed mushrooms, kale salad, leftover Ancient Grains. I took leftovers for lunch the next day. Later that evening I had Phil cut the squash in half, cleaned it, put it into an oven-safe pan, and added a 1/4 inch of water. Phil, as instructed, popped it into the oven Wednesday at 5.
Dinner Wednesday: acorn squash, leftover brown and black rice (not the best frozen and reheated), and something else. Acorn squash was kind of bland and I will need to find an great recipe to justify cooking it again.
Dinner Thursday: Tired of thinking and working two days in a row. Phil popped a pepperoni pizza in the oven. I stopped and got some packaged salad mix. Dinner. For better or for worse.
Dinner Friday (tonight): Chili beans and foccacia bread with tomato and mushrooms. I am weak about totally removing meat from our diet. Although I did only have one piece of pizza last might, I didn't remove the pepperoni, either. Today at Costco, I purchased 4 pounds of stew meat. I separated and froze it into 1-pound portions for use later. I think a little meat a couple of times a month, should be a good compromise.
Referring back to the chili recipe my patient sent me, I was really interested in trying it. It called for hamburger and sausage. I had not fully read the recipe, so purchased the stew meat thinking I would use that. It was great. Added a lot of flavor and still had lots of beans and tomatoes. I also cooked a whole bag of beans with the intent of freezing some. I have frozen some in 2 cup batches. I can use them later when I make Mexican food.
The week began by meeting a friend for coffee Monday. After that I had to run an errand and being starving, thought it best to eat something. The conundrum is to find some fast food that is good for me. I decided to stop by an Indian restaurant. I ordered some Samosa and Palak Paneer. Delicious. Not vegan, but no meat. Grocery store stop included:
- mushrooms to stuff
- spinach
- acorn squash
- celery - chop into sticks for snacking
- canned beans - garbanzos, kidneys
- canned tomato
- kale (remember to check it closely and buy it as you can find it)
- cauliflower
Dinner Tuesday: Spinach-stuffed mushrooms, kale salad, leftover Ancient Grains. I took leftovers for lunch the next day. Later that evening I had Phil cut the squash in half, cleaned it, put it into an oven-safe pan, and added a 1/4 inch of water. Phil, as instructed, popped it into the oven Wednesday at 5.
Dinner Wednesday: acorn squash, leftover brown and black rice (not the best frozen and reheated), and something else. Acorn squash was kind of bland and I will need to find an great recipe to justify cooking it again.
Dinner Thursday: Tired of thinking and working two days in a row. Phil popped a pepperoni pizza in the oven. I stopped and got some packaged salad mix. Dinner. For better or for worse.
Dinner Friday (tonight): Chili beans and foccacia bread with tomato and mushrooms. I am weak about totally removing meat from our diet. Although I did only have one piece of pizza last might, I didn't remove the pepperoni, either. Today at Costco, I purchased 4 pounds of stew meat. I separated and froze it into 1-pound portions for use later. I think a little meat a couple of times a month, should be a good compromise.
Referring back to the chili recipe my patient sent me, I was really interested in trying it. It called for hamburger and sausage. I had not fully read the recipe, so purchased the stew meat thinking I would use that. It was great. Added a lot of flavor and still had lots of beans and tomatoes. I also cooked a whole bag of beans with the intent of freezing some. I have frozen some in 2 cup batches. I can use them later when I make Mexican food.
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Moroccan Vegetable Stew
I decided to get back to work. I was creating my list, and was hesitant to put soup on my comfort food list. Phil and I have not had a loving relationship with soup, but it never ceases to amaze me that we both always enjoy soup when we consume it at home. I am not sure how good of a soup chef I am, but I find it easy to make, so am adding it to my "Comfort Food" list.
My favorite cookbook, the DoubleDay Cookbook, has a basic soup recipe and a table for making any variation of the base soup. My favorites include, broccoli, potato-leek, Minestrone, chicken noodle. I think I like to make soups because I have no preconceived notion of what "good" means. Many recipes call for special instructions, like floating egg shells in the broth, to eliminate clumping. Most recipes call for milk or cream. I do neither. That is why I love to make soup.
I never use cream or milk. I have homemade vegetable broth in the freezer, but generally use Better Than Bouillon vegetable broth base. It is quick, has some salt, and gives good, quick flavor. Back to the homemade vegetable broth. Currently, when I have leftover vegetables, I will toss them into the freezer. When I have time, I turn it into broth, place it in jars, and freeze it. Unfortunately, frozen things take time to thaw, so using this take a little forethought. Note to self: learn how to pressure process the broth.
So, where was I? I was creating The List this morning and remembered a fun resource: the Pampered Chef (PC) recipe website. At a PC party once, the host showed us how to make a vegetarian chili, of course using their cool tools to chop and measure. At any rate, she put together the ingredients in a bowl and then loaded zip lock bags with enough for two nice servings. So easy. Freezable. And it was delicious. I am still looking for the recipe. Stay tuned.
However, I did find a yummy recipe that I made for supper today. It is called Moroccan Vegetable Stew. I noticed a few things about the recipe that I have noticed in other recipes that will help us meet our health goals: vegetarian, spices - in particular, turmeric, ginger, curry, cinnamon, and garlic.
BTW, I am d day late finishing this. The stew is fabulous. The smell still lingers in my home.
My favorite cookbook, the DoubleDay Cookbook, has a basic soup recipe and a table for making any variation of the base soup. My favorites include, broccoli, potato-leek, Minestrone, chicken noodle. I think I like to make soups because I have no preconceived notion of what "good" means. Many recipes call for special instructions, like floating egg shells in the broth, to eliminate clumping. Most recipes call for milk or cream. I do neither. That is why I love to make soup.
I never use cream or milk. I have homemade vegetable broth in the freezer, but generally use Better Than Bouillon vegetable broth base. It is quick, has some salt, and gives good, quick flavor. Back to the homemade vegetable broth. Currently, when I have leftover vegetables, I will toss them into the freezer. When I have time, I turn it into broth, place it in jars, and freeze it. Unfortunately, frozen things take time to thaw, so using this take a little forethought. Note to self: learn how to pressure process the broth.
So, where was I? I was creating The List this morning and remembered a fun resource: the Pampered Chef (PC) recipe website. At a PC party once, the host showed us how to make a vegetarian chili, of course using their cool tools to chop and measure. At any rate, she put together the ingredients in a bowl and then loaded zip lock bags with enough for two nice servings. So easy. Freezable. And it was delicious. I am still looking for the recipe. Stay tuned.
However, I did find a yummy recipe that I made for supper today. It is called Moroccan Vegetable Stew. I noticed a few things about the recipe that I have noticed in other recipes that will help us meet our health goals: vegetarian, spices - in particular, turmeric, ginger, curry, cinnamon, and garlic.
BTW, I am d day late finishing this. The stew is fabulous. The smell still lingers in my home.
Sunday
So...here we are. It is Sunday and a day we will probably be home all day, the days we snack more. I am slowly getting over the "traditional" bacon and eggs breakfast. First, I don't like to eat eggs and secondly, we are not eating bacon any more at home. I will see when we go out for breakfast. :-)
I think I will just take Phil's cue on breakfast. In fact, I got up early, as usual, and on seeing my ripe avocados, I slathered some on two pieces of sour dough toast. With coffee, I was full by the time Phil got up. He opted to eat cereal. I succumbed and had a handful of Shredded Wheat and a smoothie. I don't normally drink smoothies in the winter for two reasons. I don't like to consume cold products in general, but especially when it is cold outside.
Second, my Vitamix is in the laundry room (because it is too noisy to be in the kitchen) and it is FREEZING right now in the laundry room. Here is my Vitamix in it's place of glory, underneath my husband's old caps.
It is so noisy, I start it and dash into my kitchen and shut the door. I watch it through the window, in case I have to stop it quickly. This is a picture of me in the kitchen looking through the window of the door.
I digress. We were full until about noon. Then I kind of got hungry. I proceeded to make some yummy Mushroom Strogonoff. I cooked up my favorite egg noodles and made an impromptu salad of tomato, avocado, red onion, beets, and almonds, dressed with vinegar and oil. I think I have finally cured myself of egg noodles, too. I LOVE egg noodles, but they are hard to eat. When I made Strogonoff with beef, the sauce was thicker and the noodles were easier to eat, but they were a real nuisance today. The Strogonoff was delicious, but thin. I will try to thicken with a little corn starch next time.
At any rate, Phil had a Biscotti for dessert, I had a half of one, and we did not munch at all. I currently have two potatoes in the oven and will serve them with roasted broccoli, Greek yogurt, and leftover soup from the other night. The flavor of the Moroccan Vegetable Stew was fabulous.
I think I will just take Phil's cue on breakfast. In fact, I got up early, as usual, and on seeing my ripe avocados, I slathered some on two pieces of sour dough toast. With coffee, I was full by the time Phil got up. He opted to eat cereal. I succumbed and had a handful of Shredded Wheat and a smoothie. I don't normally drink smoothies in the winter for two reasons. I don't like to consume cold products in general, but especially when it is cold outside.
Second, my Vitamix is in the laundry room (because it is too noisy to be in the kitchen) and it is FREEZING right now in the laundry room. Here is my Vitamix in it's place of glory, underneath my husband's old caps.
It is so noisy, I start it and dash into my kitchen and shut the door. I watch it through the window, in case I have to stop it quickly. This is a picture of me in the kitchen looking through the window of the door.
I digress. We were full until about noon. Then I kind of got hungry. I proceeded to make some yummy Mushroom Strogonoff. I cooked up my favorite egg noodles and made an impromptu salad of tomato, avocado, red onion, beets, and almonds, dressed with vinegar and oil. I think I have finally cured myself of egg noodles, too. I LOVE egg noodles, but they are hard to eat. When I made Strogonoff with beef, the sauce was thicker and the noodles were easier to eat, but they were a real nuisance today. The Strogonoff was delicious, but thin. I will try to thicken with a little corn starch next time.
At any rate, Phil had a Biscotti for dessert, I had a half of one, and we did not munch at all. I currently have two potatoes in the oven and will serve them with roasted broccoli, Greek yogurt, and leftover soup from the other night. The flavor of the Moroccan Vegetable Stew was fabulous.
Friday, January 12, 2018
Aarg!...just go the results of my cholesterol test
Yup, my cholesterol is up. I had been really striving to remove or reduce meat from my diet. I was shown in black and white that I have failed. I must confess, though. I love to eat meat. I need to find a way to meld eating meat with being healthy. We were really good about not having processed meats in the house for quite a while. Then the Holidays came around. Gotta have salami, cheese, and bacon for those special recipes and friends. But really, do I really need to feed my special friends and family bacon? NO.
I need to go back to the paradigm of eating food as grown. Make all food at home. I need to stop using so much cheese. I just went overboard during the Holidays. I also know that when it gets cold I turn to my favorite comfort foods. I just decided to make a list. It may take a few days. I am going to list our usual comfort foods. I also think I need to determine why they are comfort foods. I will list the "bad" ingredient(s) and work on designing or find an recipe that reduces or eliminates the "bad" ingredient.
I also need to ensure I have healthy snacks in the house. I think we should never buy sweets or chips, etc. If we want to eat that stuff, we need to go out and purchase it.
Stay tuned.
I need to go back to the paradigm of eating food as grown. Make all food at home. I need to stop using so much cheese. I just went overboard during the Holidays. I also know that when it gets cold I turn to my favorite comfort foods. I just decided to make a list. It may take a few days. I am going to list our usual comfort foods. I also think I need to determine why they are comfort foods. I will list the "bad" ingredient(s) and work on designing or find an recipe that reduces or eliminates the "bad" ingredient.
I also need to ensure I have healthy snacks in the house. I think we should never buy sweets or chips, etc. If we want to eat that stuff, we need to go out and purchase it.
Stay tuned.
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