Category Archives: Healthy Diet

Meal Plan Yumminess

Diet, Dietitian, Food, health, Healthy Diet, meal plan, meal planning, Recipe, , , , , , ,

It’s been a while since I posted a meal plan and I’m back with a delicious week of meals to share with you. I’ve been faithfully planning and prepping and have started to get a little bored with the same old meals. This week, I added a few new recipes.

Do as much prep as you can over the weekend. I chop omelet veggies, make overnight oats, boil eggs (last 5 days if they don’t crack!), make mason jar salads, and do whatever else I can to prepare ahead of time. Notice this week is heavier in cooking the first few days but then relies on leftovers to get through the week.

Not listed is a Chocolate Chia Pudding dessert I’ll be making when I sign off from here because chocolate. Yum.

Sunday: 

B – Egg white omelet made with egg whites, shredded cheddar/jack, onions, mushrooms, and spinach served with a piece of toast with olive oil butter. TIP: Do your breakfast prep for the week by chopping onions and mushrooms that have been cleaned with a paper towel (no water!) and storing in mason jars – you still have to cook; but the chopping is the time-consuming part so this saves time in the morning!

L – White Bean Caprese Salad (added chopped raw videlia onions) served on spinach/romaine lettuce.

D – Baked tofu (press, cube, toss with Italian salad dressing and bake) mixed with zucchini carpaccio (pictured with this blog). Note to self: invest in a mandolin.

S – Boiled egg; cucumbers and Zesty Carrot Hummus – you seriously must try this! DELISH!

Monday:

B – omelet with toast

L – Loaded Sweet Potato

D – Strawberry Cucumber Salad (with balsamic glaze – yes please!) and (Chicken) Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats. 

S – Apple with Laughing Cow Cheese

Tuesday:

B – Overnight Oats (were prepped over weekend so easy breezy breakfast) with a sliced banana.

L – Leftover White Bean Caprese Salad on lettuce/spinach

D – Leftover Sausage Boats and Strawberry Cucumber Salad

S – Kefir and blackberries

Wednesday:

B – Overnight Oats with banana

L – Leftover Loaded Sweet Potato

D – Baked fish, steamer vegetables, quinoa

S – Egg salad (egg, mayo) with carrots

Thursday:

B – Overnight Oats with banana

L – Mason Jar Salad (prepped over weekend) with a boiled egg and blue cheese crumbles

D – Fish Bowls (leftover fish, quinoa, chipotle, jalapeno, veggies, sour cream – whatever is on hand and needs to be eaten but with a Mexican twist).

S – Apple with carrot hummus

Friday:

B – Omelet with toast

L – Leftover Loaded Sweet Potato

D – Turkey burgers (tomato, lettuce, red onion, avocado, cheese) and fries (yes – the splurge meal happens for me too!)

S – Kefir and blackberries

Saturday: 

B – Overnight Oats

L – Mason Jar Salad with tuna packet (buffalo tuna is so yum).

D – Turkey Burger Bowls (chopped burger, lettuce, tomato, pickles, blue cheese and the rest of the chopped food that needs to be eaten!

S – Carrots with carrot hummus

Thanks for the inspiration as always to Clean Eating Magazine (just the recipes please people, not the articles! Food is NOT “clean” or “dirty” unless of course, it needs to be washed), SkinnyTaste (easy, low calorie, and crazy good recipes) and this week to my new find, Minimalist Baker.

Let me know if you try any recipes this week and if you like the Meal Plan posts!

Overnight Oats

Dietitian, Food, Healthy Diet, Heart Healthy, meal planning, oatmeal recipe, overnight oats, Recipe, , , , , , ,

“Getting what you want is simple, but not easy.” – Mel Robbins.

I believe this is true when applied to nutrition. I think many of us know WHAT to do – nutrition is really simple once you get away from the hype of the media and uneducated bloggers. We just struggle with ACTUALLY DOING IT – it isn’t easy!

To further my mission of “heart healthy nutrition made easy,” I bring you a way to fit a healthy breakfast into your meal planning. I love the ease of the week when I take the time to do meal preparation on the weekends. In fact, my husband and I have only eaten out about 8 times since the year began five months ago. That was not our goal; but is a happy unanticipated consequence of having a plan in place.

One of the best perks of meal prep is having a hot breakfast for very little work. I’ve been accomplishing this with overnight oats and with pre-chopped vegetables for omelets or “scrambles” if I’m in a hurry. Mason jars are AMAZING for keeping my chopped onion and mushrooms (cleaned with a paper towel, not water) fresh through the week!

However, in my work with my patients lately, I have been hard pressed to find an overnight oats recipe online that works for all of my patients – especially those working on blood sugar control. Once you add oats, dairy, and fruit together, you’ve got a small jar carbohydrate delight that is just an overload for the morning meal.

Note – carbohydrates are NOT bad. Carbohydrates are AWESOME! However, many people tend to eat tooooo many of them. So, please DO NOT ban or severely limit carbohydrates; but many of us could do with reigning in our portion sizes a bit.

Without further ado – my basic overnight oats recipe is below. This serving provides 215 calories and 30 grams of carbohydrates per jar. Feel free to add more fruit and nuts and other assorted yumminess to fit your needs and preferences.

Oh and by the way, Mel Robbins 20 minute video is so worth the time!

Click the recipe title for a printer-friendly version!

Simple-Overnight-Oats

Serves one

Ingredients

1/3 cup of old-fashioned or quick cooking plain oats

2/3 cup of unsweetened almond milk

1 tablespoon of chia seeds

1 Tablespoon peanut butter powder (no sugar added)

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

  1.  Put all ingredients into a Mason jar or other container and stir to combine.
  2. Store in refrigerator at least overnight (can be made up to 5 days in advance and stored in fridge!)

To serve: This can be eaten cold or hot (microwave 1-2 minutes but do NOT microwave in a plastic container).

Nutrition per serving (entire recipe): 215 calories, 8 grams fat, 7 grams unsaturated fats, 1 gram saturated fat, 0 grams trans fat, 0 milligrams cholesterol, 165 milligrams sodium, 30 grams carbohydrates, 10 grams fiber, 8 grams protein.

NOTES:

The chia seeds act as a thickener (in addition to be a great heart healthy food!) but they are expensive so you can try leaving them out or substituting ground flaxseed.

For those counting carbohydrates to manage blood sugar:  Don’t forget to add your carb grams for any fruit or sweeteners you add!

Are You Healthy?

Dietitian, HAES, health, Healthy Diet, , , , ,

Is overweight the new healthy? The answer might surprise you.

Let’s start with the definition of healthy. How do you define healthy?

There are many aspects of health – there is body size (BMI, body fat) or metabolic health (lab results) or cardiovascular health (resting heart rate, ability to perform daily living tasks or purposeful exercise) or even emotional and spiritual health (do the standards you hold yourself to for your physical health damage your emotional health?). Or is it based on quality of life? Or the characteristics of those who live the longest?

(Spoiler alert: We are finding that a BMI in the “overweight” range has a lower mortality rate than those in the “normal” weight range).

So, I ask: how should we define health? The good news is that you get to define it based on what is important to you and I’d recommend you do it in collaboration with a physician.

I can tell you that people choose physical appearance over their emotional health a lot. One thing most people have in common when they walk in the door to meet with an RD is that their emotional health has taken a hit regardless of their body size. It seems very few people can find peace with their bodies – even those who appear “fit” or “healthy” to others.

This concerns me.

I used to be there too and I still some days struggle with self-acceptance and self-love (stupid #fitspo memes). It’s no secret that I carry a few extra pounds. Should you consider me proof that knowing what to do to get to a socially desirable weight and actually doing it are two different things? Or should you perhaps consider that I am happy and healthy with a few extra pounds? Could this be true?!?!

In 2007, I was “overweight” by the numbers and I fought with my body and had low body-acceptance. My hips were too big, my belly isn’t flat, my thighs are so big when I sit down… all those things we let ourselves say in our heads when we don’t love ourselves as we are. I had a heart attack. I felt my body had let me down even more… and then I realized that this body that I hated – big belly, hips, thighs, and all – had actually carried me through and I survived that heart attack. Just that simple realization led to a big mind shift and changed those thoughts in my head to appreciation and gratitude for this body that I was lucky enough to still have!

Before you go screaming that being overweight is why I had a heart attack – let me stop you. I was a smoker for decades, I worked a stressful job, and I have a strong family history. Most health conditions (and the supposed “obesity epidemic”) are not as simple as people believe. These things have multiple factors that lead to these outcomes. Being thin would not have prevented my heart attack.

I share all this to lead you into considering your HEALTH over your APPEARANCE. I encourage you to think a little deeper than the eat-less-move-more movement. Check out HAES (Health at Every Size), read up on new studies that might indicate a coming shift in beliefs (just one of many studies here: BMI 27: The New Normal?), and start loving yourself first.

Change your body or don’t – we are all works in progress – but please start from a place of self-love and body-acceptance. Look forward to more information on this topic in the future.

Image from: https://fridayforgood.com/2015/11/20/be-rebellious/

Bag Full of Heart Healthy Foods

No More Excuses for Fast Food!

Diet, Dietitian, Fast Food, Food, Healthy Diet, Lunch, meal plan, Snacks, , , , , ,

I get it. You’re busy, you’re tired, you don’t have time for meal planning, grocery shopping, meal prepping. You think your only option is that fast food drive through or the quick convenience restaurants.

I completely disagree.

We are ALL busy, tired, and don’t have free time to do all that planning and preparation. You have no less hours in your days that anyone else. You have chosen how to prioritize your time and to what and whom you give your time and effort. I’m not trying to make you feel any certain way but I can already hear your reasons that it’s not your choice and there is nothing you can do to change it.

Perhaps that is true for some people. I’ve been a caretaker for a family member going through a multiple year crisis and I found myself not taking care of myself at first. After devoting all my energy to care-taking, I realized I needed to take care of me too and I found a way to fit it in. (Anyone else ever walked the parking garage stairs and levels at a hospital? Yep, me too).

The thing is – we pay for our choices one way or the other. We pay in dollars and health when we routinely eat most choices available for a quick lunch (and we save time and effort). We pay in time and effort spent every evening or in a block of time on the weekends to meal plan, shop, and cook dinner (and we save our health and dollars). You get to decide which is more important for you in this moment.

The good news is that YOU have the power to shift your schedule and priorities. Maybe not completely; but I challenge you to find ONE SMALL THING over which you have control and can make a change.

Trust me – you’ll feel better if you do. 🙂

So, to help you realize that you DO have some control to choose something simple – like a healthier lunch or snacks – I bring you my “I’m-starving-and-have-nothing-to-eat-for-lunch” list for the grocery store. These are grab-and-go meals and snacks that you can choose instead of a fast food meal. (Spoiler alert – that fast food salad likely has more calories and less nutrition than the bacon cheeseburger).

  • Lunch?
    • Tuna (or salmon packet or packaged grilled chicken strips) mixed into prepared green salad (from produce section) with dressing of your choice
    • 1 whole wheat roll with sliced meat and cheese (all from the deli so you get only what you need!) plus a mustard packet and box of high-fiber crackers
      • Bonus – now you’ve got crackers to stash at your desk for snack-time!
    • Sushi roll with edamame (if store has this option)
    • Diced fruit and nuts on cottage cheese (major yum!)
  • Going back to the office?
    • Frozen dinner and steamer bag of vegetables (no sauces please)
    • Can of low-sodium soup plus green salad (from produce section) with dressing
  • Snacks?
    • Cheese stick with those crackers you stashed in your desk
    • Chopped fruit from produce section with a handful of nuts
    • Yogurt with Grape Nuts (really, don’t spend money on “granola” or “trail mix” as Grape Nuts give you the crunch without added sugar or ridiculous price!)
    • Apple with peanut butter (single packs are now sold! Try the natural no-sugar-added kind)

Oh, and do yourself one more favor and just grab a simple, cold, refreshing bottle of water (or fill up your bottle!) on your way out of the store.

Tell me  your other ideas and tricks for eating healthy when crunched for time?

 

Spiralized Sweet Potato

Happy New Meal Planning!

Diet, Food, Healthy Diet, Heart Healthy, meal plan, meal planning, Recipe, , , , ,

I returned to work today and the majority of people are focusing on meal planning as their current focus with their renewed enthusiasm of a new year. Meal planning and preparing foods ahead of time is a wonderful way to have a successful week in terms of meeting your nutrition goals. Two quotes come to mind:

  1. Ben Franklin is purported to have said: He who fails to plan, plans to fail.
  2. Mel Robbins kind of said (forgive me Mel, I paraphrase your Ted talk): You can have anything you want – it’s simple; but it’s not easy.

By the way, I really encourage you to invest 20 minutes in watching Mel’s Ted talk. I watch it every time I need a  motivation boost.

In the interest of helping others who struggle with meal planning, I decided to share my meal plan for this week and links to recipes where possible. I warn you though, this takes time and effort. Expect to spend a good 4 hours in the kitchen… but then relax because your food for the week is DONE!

Sunday:

B = egg white omelet with mushrooms, onions, spinach, shredded cheddar cheese(veggies chopped on Sunday for the week), L = green salad (veggies chopped on Sunday for the week) with Asian Sesame dressing with chicken salad (canned chicken, olive oil mayonnaise, red onion, celery, red grapes, black pepper); Zesty Lime Shrimp and Avocado over brown rice, vegetable soup (garlic, onion, tomato, zucchini, low sodium chicken broth, black pepper, red pepper flakes, basil).

Monday:

B = overnight oats (made for week) with oatmeal, unsweetened almond milk, chia seeds, peanut butter powder, cinnamon, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract with banana sliced into it in the morning, L = Zesty Lime Shrimp on romaine, D = Mexican Sweet Potato Casserole, broccoli, Snacks = yogurt, crackers.

Tuesday:

B = omelet, L = tofu sandwich (chipotle baked tofu, lettuce tomato, whole wheat bread), vegetable soup, D = Mexican Sweet Potato Casserole, brussels sprouts.

Wednesday:

B = omelet, L = green salad with chicken salad, vegetable soup, D = pork chop, edamame pesto pasta (copied from a recipe book so can’t link sorry!) with grape tomatoes, sauteed squash and mushrooms.

Thursday:

B = oatmeal, L = tofu sandwich, vegetable soup, D = pork chop, leftover pasta, green salad.

Friday:

B = omelet, L = green salad with chicken salad, D = Mexican Sweet Potato Casserole (from frozen), broccoli.

Saturday:

B = omelet, L = sandwich, crackers, D = a leftovers meal with whatever remains!

My snacks aren’t planned day by day but they include celery/carrots with hummus or peanut butter; yogurt with grape nuts; or crackers with cheese.

I hope this helps!

 

 

Ready for the Focus on Five media interview

Focus On Five for Heart Healthy Lunches that Stay Fresh

Dietitian, Food, Healthy Diet, Heart Healthy, Lunch, , , , , , , , ,

There is nothing more disappointing than taking the time to pack a heart healthy lunch and finding it a soggy mess by lunchtime. Last month, I shared my tips to pack a heart healthy lunch that will stay fresh until it’s time to eat on First Coast Living, a local new show (video since taken down unfortunately).

Ready for the Focus on Five media interview

My segment was inspired by an article that stated that even the 40% of children who are bringing lunches from home still fell short nutritionally. The 626 children (3rd-4th graders) had too many sweet and salty pre-packaged foods and too little fruits, vegetables, and dairy foods. Only 27% of the lunches had even three of the five food groups! More than half (59%) contained sandwiches. Armed with this information, I set out to find tips for improving the nutrition in our lunches without sacrificing on the yummy-factor.

The basics of a heart-healthy lunch are to (1) stock up on fiber and color by including whole fruits, vegetables, plant proteins, and whole grains, (2) keep the sodium and saturated/trans fats low by turning away from packaged or processed foods as well as high-fat meats and dairy foods, and (3) pack enough food to keep you satisfied and energized throughout the day.

My tips are simple – “focus on five” and plan/prepare ahead!

Focus on Five

Aim for all five food groups in your lunch bag!

  • A small amount of lean meats, a boiled egg, or plant proteins (beans, nuts, seeds) to get your protein, iron, and B12 (in animal products)
  • A small amount of whole grains (bread, crackers, etc.) for carbohydrates, fiber, and energy
  • Load up on whole fruits and vegetables (or ones packaged without added sugar or salt) for vitamins, minerals, and fiber
  • Include some reduced fat dairy foods (milk, cheese, yogurt) for calcium and vitamin D

Aim for at least five colors!

The trick with this tip is that in order to get five or more colors we have to turn to fruits and vegetables… because, yes, skittles do not count! Different colors have different vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals (those wonderful little plant compounds that we are learning do so much for our health). If you eat the same colors every day, you may be missing out on some key nutrients.

Plan/Prep in Advance

Use the Focus on Five strategy to figure out what you will pack during the upcoming week and get your shopping done.

When you get home, do any chopping and washing as well as portioning out foods before you put them away. If you spend one hour chopping vegetables and portioning crackers into single serving baggies, you are well-positioned to meet your health goals during the week when our prep-time is typically more limited.

Pack lunches (and your pre-chopped foods) in a way that keeps them fresh. Mason jars are one of the best things I’ve found for maintaining freshness because the seal on these jars is air-tight. I showcased three options on the segment: a mason jar salad, a bento box, and a deconstructed sandwich. The trick to keeping your lunch fresh is layering! Always layer your dressing (if a salad) on the bottom and then the foods that will hold up to the dressing.  Carrots are a good choice because they can sit in dressing for days without changing. Next, layer your wet ingredients (tomato, cucumber, lettuce). Always make sure your lettuce is nowhere near the dressing or it will wilt. Finally layer your proteins, cheese, and (if a sandwich) bread on top. I have used lettuce on Friday that I rinsed, spun, and chopped on Sunday. This picture is the salad I made for the segment on Sunday, which I ate on Thursday!

Mason Jar Salad - one week later!
Mason Jar Salad – one week later!

Just be mindful of food safety and if it looks wilty, wet, or is mushy – toss it!

The Difference?

I compared my bento box to a very popular pre-packaged lunch any my bento box has 26% fewer calories, 33% less saturated fat, and 3 times more fiber for $0.87 less per meal.

I also compared my salad to a popular sandwich and salad restaurant and my salad had 44% fewer calories, 65% less total fat, 63% less sodium, and 150% more fiber!

Following these tips will save you time, ease the pressure on your wallet, and greatly improve the healthfulness of your delicious and easy lunches.

What other tips do you have to share?

A Weekly Meal Planner

“ASPIRE” – Six Steps to Healthy Meal Planning

Diet, Dietitian, Food, Healthy Diet, , , , , ,

The one best thing you can do to make healthier, nutrition-rich meals, save time and money, and make life easier is to plan your meals ahead of time. You need a strategy to plan healthy meals. If you wait until you are hungry and tired at the end of the day, figuring out what to make for dinner is not easy and you’re more likely to choose something fast, easy, and unhealthy. However, this is one of the things that my clients find the hardest to do.

I’m here to help you “make nutrition easy,” so here is my strategy for you.

Grab some paper, a pen, and ASPIRE to plan your meals. Remembering this acronym will guide you through a simple way to plan meals that are healthy, yummy, and reduce your grocery expenses! I designed my free Weekly Menu Planner just for this! You can use any format as long as you have one column for each day of the week.

A = Agenda

The first thing to do is check your agenda for any commitments, meetings, and changes to your usual schedule. Also check the calendars of the others in your household. This is important so you know which nights you have time to make a meal and which nights you don’t and should plan for leftovers. It also lets you know which nights you need quick and easy meals and which nights you can spend more time on your meal creations. You can also note the days that you have to be out of the house early and may benefit from packing your a lunch the night before. Write down everyone’s commitments that have an impact on meals on the weekly menu planner.

S = Stock

What do you already have on stock, on par, or in your pantry and fridge? Flip your weekly menu planner over and make a list of all the foods in your fridge and pantry (your “stock foods”) on the left side of the back of the paper.

P = Promotions

Check the store promotions. What is on sale this week? What do you have coupons for? We all want to stretch our food dollars and this is one way to do it. If you don’t clip coupons, go to the grocery store’s web site as many are now allowing their customers to electronically collect coupons on reward cards or by their phone number. You can also check one of my favorite coupon sites, Southern Savers, for printable coupons. On the right side of the back of your weekly menu planner, write down the “promotions foods” you plan to buy based on sales, coupons, and promotions.

I = Invent

Put on your creative chef’s hat, and invent meals you can put together using only foods on your list of “stock foods.” If you can’t make anything with what you have in stock, then figure out what you can add from the list of “promotion foods” to make a meal with your  “stock foods”. The idea is to use as few foods from the “promotion foods” list so you make as many meals as you can without spending money on new foods! Once you have invented a few meal ideas, flip your weekly meal planner over and put the meals where they fit best based on your schedule.

A Weekly Meal Planner
A Weekly Meal Planner

Tips

  • Google is your friend. I made this delicious Puff Pastry Tart just by putting “puff pastry,” “spinach,” “sweet potato,” and “healthy easy recipe” into Google!
  • Cook more than you need so you have leftovers from every time you cook! A few tweaks and one night’s baked chicken, sauteed mushrooms and zucchini, and brown rice transform into the second night’s chicken quesadillas.
  • Make the first meal on your weekly planner one that you have all the ingredients for… just in case you don’t make it to the store right away.
  • This is the hard part and it takes time – so save every weekly meal planner you create to re-use for those weeks you don’t want to spend the time and effort doing all this work.
  • Use the food group tallies on the bottom of my weekly meal planner to make sure you are including food from all food groups in your meal plans. Don’t know how many of each food group to include? Here’s a guideline based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

R = Run

Get out and run those errands! Use your list of “promotions foods” to make a shopping list. Clip your coupons. Go to the grocery store and do your shopping.

E = Execute

You spent all that time and effort making a plan, now execute your plan.

Post the weekly meal planner in the kitchen where you can see it. If you have helpers at home, let them know they can start prepping foods for dinners before you get home.

Most importantly, be flexible. This plan is an outline and life happens. You may have forgotten you need fish for one dinner… just push that meal back to another day. You may decide that you are way too tired to cook one night… just pick up your plan the next night.

Always have a Plan B Meal in mind. In my home, it is either flatbread pizza or turkey burgers and sweet potato fries. We always have the ingredients in stock  and, on those nights we aren’t feeling our meal plan, we have a yummy 20-minute, low-effort dinner.

Let me know if you like my strategy. I hope you ASPIRE to give meal planning a try this week!

Delicious, Easy, and Healthy Vegan CrockPot Quinoa Chili

Eat More Beans! Crockpot Quinoa Chili Recipe (Vegan)

Dietitian, Food, Grains, Healthy Diet, Heart Healthy, Quinoa, Recipe, Vegan, Vegetarian, , , , , , , , ,

Imagine this. You are in the grocery store and you need to buy some beans. In one hand, you hold a can of beans. In the other hand, you hold a bag of dried beans. Which one do you buy?

You probably consider a few things before you decide.

The first consideration may be convenience. The canned beans are ready to go. You can throw those in the microwave and have hot, cooked beans in just a couple of minutes. The dried beans will take much more time because you have to soak them for many hours and then cook them for another couple of hours. Do you have time for this? Do you know how to cook dried beans? Will you forget and then have to come up with a Plan B dinner?

The second consideration may be nutrition. Beans are a nutrition-packed food! If you cook dried beans, then in 1/2 cup of black beans you get 7 grams of protein, 20 grams of carbohydrates, 14 grams of fiber, and 10% daily value of iron with only 115 calories, 1/2 gram of fat, and no cholesterol or sodium! If you choose the canned beans, much of this stays the same; but you get more sodium. If you choose regular black beans, that 1/2 cup can have 500 milligrams of sodium and reduced sodium black beans can have 240 milligrams of sodium. Some canned products are also packaged in cans that have BPA.

Many people don’t consider cost because those other two things are more important. A 15 ounce can of beans gives you approximately 1 3/4 cups of beans for $1.00 to $3.00. A 16 ounce bag of dried beans contains 3 1/4 cups of dried beans which gives you about 9 cups of cooked beans for about  $1.00 to $2.00. If you do the work of cooking dried beans, you get about five times a much for your money!

I used dried beans most of the time and save canned beans for when I don’t want to rely on myself to remember to cook dried beans the day before I need them or I decided on having beans for dinner on the day I grocery shop. I went in search of dried bean recipes that eliminated the need to cook the beans the day before. After reviewing a few recipes for cooking times and methods and a few trial runs, here is what I ended up with.

Crockpot Quinoa Chili

Makes 9 cups cooked chili

Prep time: 15 minutes, Cook time: 6 hours 15 minutes

Skill level: low

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups dried pinto beans

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed

1 teaspoon or 2 cloves minced garlic

2 cups frozen corn

1 package (10 ounces) spinach

2 cups low-sodium salsa

1/2 large red onion, chopped

5 cups water

1/2 teaspoon each: Hot Shot (red/black pepper blend) and red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon of each ground spice: turmeric, paprika, cayenne pepper, cumin, and chipotle chile pepper

Quinoa Chili Ingredients
Ingredients – Yes, those are pinto beans from Hatch, New Mexico courtesy of a great neighbor!

Directions

1. Layer all ingredients except spices in crockpot in order listed above.

2. Cook on high heat for one hour and then reduce to low heat for five hours. If home, stir occasionally making sure beans and quinoa stay covered by liquid.

3. Add spices and stir before serving.

Quinoa Chili Start
How it starts…

Nutrition Information per 1-cup serving: 138 calories, 1 gram fat (0 saturated, 0 trans), 0 milligrams cholesterol,  225 milligrams sodium, 34 grams carbohydrate, 13 grams fiber, 8 grams protein.

Serving suggestion: Stir in plain Greek yogurt (not vegan!) to cool it down or top with chopped chipotle peppers and hot sauce to kick it up a notch! I added homemade cornbread muffins on the side (also not vegan) following this recipe and sliced tomatoes.

Delicious, Easy, and Healthy Vegan CrockPot Quinoa Chili
Delicious, Easy, and Healthy Vegan CrockPot Quinoa Chili

 

Dinner is served!

Weekly Meal Plan: Baked Panko Shrimp and Pineapple Fried Rice

Baking, Dietitian, Food, Grains, Healthy Diet, Recipe, Shrimp, , ,

One thing you didn’t know about me until now is that my second job was in a Japanese Steak House where I worked as a hostess. I was young and what I remember most about that job is how difficult it is to dress in a kimono. Below is an old polaroid and the only picture I have from that time… long ago…

Alexia in Kimono 1986
Alexia in Kimono 1986

The other things I came away from that job with were a love of sushi and the knowledge that cooked rice should be refrigerated before it is turned into fried rice. With this knowledge, I scoffed at the feedback on the Pineapple Fried Rice recipe, knowing that my fried rice would not be mushy since I knew this trick!

I didn’t measure for this recipe and I used mushrooms instead of the red pepper. The sauce (pineapple, soy sauce, red pepper flakes) is absolutely delicious and I will use this for other recipes. The rice was also really tasty; but unfortunately, it was mushy!

Pineapple Fried Rice
Pineapple Fried Rice

I figured next time, I would also rinse off the rice before putting it in the fridge to wash some of the sticky starch off the rice… however, next time (yes, I already made it again and added diced chicken and broccoli), I used steamed white rice picked up from the local Chinese restaurant. I find that a worthwhile expense because it made a much less sticky rice dish.

For the Baked Panko Shrimp, I simply combined panko and cayenne pepper, then dipped raw shrimp into egg whites and then the panko mixture. I laid them out on a baking sheet covered with tin foil. I suggest spraying this with cooking spray, a step I did not do and I lost half the panko breading on the foil! These were baked at 475 for about 20 minutes.

Baked Panko Shrimp
Baked Panko Shrimp

I served these with sauteed spinach and mushrooms with sliced almonds. YUM!

Dinner is served!
Dinner is served!

Prepping for the Tart

Weekly Meal Plan: Puff Pastry Tart & Cottage Cheese Enchilada

Dietitian, Food, Healthy Diet, Recipe, Vegetarian, , , , ,

This is the first in a new recurring post. My plan is to do my personal meal planning for the week and then share the recipes and tips from the week with you. My hope is that you will try something new and be inspired with your own weekly meal planning.

One of my recipes this week was based on the foods I had that needed to be used, specifically a big bag of spinach and thawed puff pastry. I found a recipe for a Sweet Potato, Spinach, and Caramelized Onion Tart with Balsamic Reduction that sounded delicious and I had every single ingredient on hand. I reduced the amount of oil from 3 Tbsp to 1/2 Tbsp only used when caramelizing the onions; but that can even be swapped out for starting the onions with cooking spray. If you are trying to improve your cholesterol numbers, use the olive oil and if you are trying to reduce calories, use the cooking spray. I also replaced the honey with agave syrup (what I had) and used about 1/2 Tbsp for the balsamic reduction, which thickened up beautifully!

Prepping for the Tart
Prepping for the Tart

I found this to be scrumptious… but… the toppings were too thick. If you make this, I’d recommend using half the spinach and onions (or make two tarts). I piled it up anyway and I think this contributed to the pastry being a bit doughy in the middle (or it could have been that I should have cooked it a little bit longer). I also recommend you serve this on a day that you’ve had enough protein (meat, dairy foods, eggs, beans, nuts, etc.) since it is low in protein. I served this with grape tomatoes that I halved and roasted with mozzarella cheese on top. One tart serves 2-4 people depending on their appetites and what else you serve it with.

Tart Ready for the Oven
Tart Ready for the Oven

My other new recipe this week was enchiladas. I’ve been playing with using cottage cheese in cooking. While I love cottage cheese on its own; I’m kind of enthralled with cooking with it right now. Last week, I made lasagna rolls and they were delicious. I’ll be tweaking that recipe and posting it here in the future. I found myself with 1-cup of cottage cheese and I found a Cottage Cheese Enchiladas recipe. I’m not a huge fan of corn tortillas so I had to purchase those and I need your advice on these (see below).

Of course, I modified this recipe as well. We were out of cheddar cheese so I used shredded mozzarella as the only cheese, I omitted the chives and lime wedge, and I made the enchilada sauce. The sauce was simple, I used diced tomatoes (what I had) and pureed those in the food processor, then added chipotle powder, cumin, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper and a touch of Splenda. Perfection! To the filling, I added some boiled chicken I had since my dog is currently not feeling well and is on a chicken and rice diet. Omit the chicken to keep this vegetarian.

Enchilada Filling
Enchilada Filling

These were INCREDIBLE in terms of flavor; but they completely fell apart. So, readers, if you know how to handle corn tortillas so they don’t fall apart, please comment on this post – I need your help since I will be making this dish again. I served this with chips and salsa and a side salad of halved grape tomatoes, diced avocado, and lime juice. As you can see, it makes a hefty portion!

A Whole Lotta Enchilada
A Whole Lotta Enchilada

I do apologize for the quality of the photographs. My wonderful husband got me a Galaxy Tablet for the holiday and I am still learning how to best use the camera… and to be honest, hunger was a factor in not having the patience to get that perfect picture!