Veggie Tales

If you have children of the right age, I'm sure you've heard of Veggie Tales, the cartoons with a moral twist. My veggie tales are a little different but hopefully, you and your kids will appreciate them.
Of course you know you should eat your vegetables; Mom always said so. She was right. So many important nutrients and our friend, fiber, are found in vegetables. Eating vegetables helps control weight and fights many diseases like cancer. I'm always amazed when I'm checking out and the checker has to ask me, "What is this?", holding up a turnip or squash. Sometimes I serve vegetable meals because they are fast and I love them so.
The problem with vegetables is that they are seldom well prepared so no wonder no one likes them. Take the time to try different recipes to find ones you really like. I have even been known to serve raw vegetables for snacks and dinner. What could be easier? Add a few raw carrots or grape tomatoes to your plate. You don't even have to have ranch dip.
Here are a few of my favorite, easy vegetable recipes.

Carrots Moore
1 lb carrots peeled and sliced thin (I use baby carrots because they are already peeled)
1 small onion, chopped
4 TBsp. butter
Place carrots and onion in an oven proof dish. Add 1/2 TBsp. parsley, 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. thyme and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Stir to mix well. Dot with butter. Bake at 375 for one hour or until carrots are tender.

Asparagus with Feta Cheese
1 package fresh asparagus
4 oz. crumbled feta cheese
1/4 tsp. pepper
Boil asparagus till just tender. Drain well. Sprinkle with feta and pepper.

Yellow Squash
Slice several small yellow squash and place in a microwavable bowl. Add 1 TBsp. water and microwave 3 to 5 minutes until just tender. Drain well. Add 1 TBsp. Brummel and Brown yogurt spread or your favorite butter substitute, 1/2 tsp. salt and pepper to taste.

I will post more vegetable recipes later but do look for others. Vegetables can be a fast and tasty addition to your meals.

Two For One

Don't we all love two for one sales? Your life will be easier if you learn to love two for one meals. I've already talked about eating leftovers to save time in the kitchen and money when food isn't wasted. Now let's talk about planning extra meat and using it in another recipe.
This weekend we smoked a large chicken for Sunday dinner. (You could just as easily bake or grill one or even your favorite chicken pieces instead of a whole chicken.) We enjoyed our Sunday dinner with potato salad and purple hull peas. Monday was very busy with swim practice, band, and a 7 p.m. meeting. So I pulled out the leftover chicken that I had already removed from the bone on Sunday and made a quick barbeque sauce for sandwiches and added some baked fries for a quick side. Of course, I had already planned and shopped for these meals because I knew Monday would be hectic. A little planning made my life easier and we ate a healthier meal too.
The leftover chicken could just as easily be made into tasty chicken tacos, chicken salad, the pasta dish I mentioned earlier or another kind of chicken sandwich. It doesn't take long to make any of these dishes and they taste good! Best of all, nearly anyone could prepare these meals.

Here is my recipe for the barbeque chicken sandwich but in a pinch, just use bottled sauce.

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup sliced celery
1 minced clove of garlic
3/4 cup of ketchup
2 TBsp. brown sugar
2 TBsp. cidar vinegar
1 TBsp. Worchestershire
1 tsp. chili powder
pepper to taste
3 cups chicken, shredded or cut in bite sized pieces
buns
Saute onion, celery and garlic in 1 TBsp. olive or canola oil till lightly browned. Add other ingredients through chicken and simmer 15 minutes. Serve with your favorite side.

New Convenience Foods Worth Mentioning

From time to time, I will mention convenience foods I use because of their nutritional value, cost and ease of use. I have two new products to recommend this week. I recently picked up two bags of Contessa Sesame Chicken at $8.59 each to try and was very pleased. Dinner was ready in about 15 minutes - great for those hurried nights and everyone agreed it was good. The meal is complete with rice and several vegetables in addition to the chicken. Best of all, there are 260 calories in a 1 1/2 cup serving, 4 grams of fat, 4 grams of fiber and 14 grams of protein. My only criticism is that is has almost 1/3 of your daily requirement of sodium but you could cut back on the sauce and reduce the sodium. One bag is enough for two. I thought the cost was comparable to taking the four of us to a fast food restaurant but a much more healthy choice.

My sister is lactose intolerant so when I read about an ice cream made with coconut milk, my ears pricked up. Turtle Mountain offers Purely Decadent, a non-dairy frozen dessert that is also soy free. It is made with coconut milk and while not fat free by any means, it does have 6 grams of fiber and 10% of your daily requirement of iron. Regular ice cream has neither fiber nor iron. I bought some to test and my family agreed it was very good. Similar to ice cream in consistency and taste, it does have a coconut aftertaste. Give it a try if you are lactose intolerant and missing your ice cream.

Yes, I did just recommend a fat filled treat. As long as we exercise and eat right most of the time, treats are fine.

Fast Dinners Good Dinners

The last hurrah of summer is over and the grind is on till Thanksgiving break. There will be many hurried meals as we rush to the next meeting, practice or rehearsal. Don't be tempted to go through the drive-thru on those nights, be prepared for them. Refer back to earlier posts on grocery shopping and restock your pantry now.
To give you some help, my next several posts will have some of my favorite fast dinner recipes that rank high in nutrition and are definite crowd pleasers. Keep frozen grilled chicken breast strips or pieces on hand. You can grill and freeze your own or purchase 20 oz. bags at the grocery. These are a great start for any fast dinner, including the following original recipe I created out of need.

Pantry Pasta

8 ounces of your favorite pasta shape
1 to 2 cups grilled chicken, no need to thaw if frozen
1 can black or kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can diced tomatoes, or one large fresh tomato diced
1/2 medium onion sliced thin
1 can whole corn drained, or 1 cup frozen
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Boil pasta. While pasta cooks, saute onion in 1 tbsp. olive oil till lightly brown. Add chicken, beans, tomatoes and corn. Let heat through but do not boil while draining pasta. Add pasta to meat mixture. Season to taste with salt, pepper and chili powder, if desired. Sprinkle cheese on top and stir to mix well. Done!

This recipe is easily expanded for a larger crowd. It serves 4 as made above. Experiment with different seasonings. If you have a well stocked pantry and keep frozen grilled chicken on hand, this can be made at a moments notice. As usual, add a fruit or green salad and maybe some bread.

Labor Day

Labor Day weekend is here but that shouldn't mean laboring in the kitchen. It shouldn't mean eating hot dogs, chips and dip and cheap store bought cookies all weekend either.
I tried a new recipe last weekend that gets high ratings in simplicity, speed of preparation and taste. Even my children gave it a 6 to 8 out of 10. Did I mention healthy? The leftovers were also good for lunch the next day. Give this a try this weekend.

Tuna and White Bean Salad
2 15 ounce cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
3 large Roma tomatoes, chopped
1/3 cup chopped red onion
1/3 cup chopped orange or yellow sweet pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
3 TBSP. white wine vinegar
2 TBSP. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 6 ounce fresh or frozen tuna steak
salad greens, your favorite

Combine beans, tomatoes, onion, sweet pepper in a large bowl. Set aside.
Combine oil, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a screw top jar. Shake well. Pour over bean mixture and toss to coat. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Thaw frozen tuna. Rinse and pat tuna dry. Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook 8 to 12 minutes or until fish flakes, turning once. Do not over cook. Tuna tastes best when still pink in the middle. Break into pieces and add to bean mixture. Toss gently to combine. Serve over salad greens. Add some hearty bread and your meal is complete.

My family is hiking this weekend. A little time spent outdoors in the fresh air will revive everyone. Have a great weekend.

Alarming Trends

When my husband first started practicing cardiology here in Jonesboro 17 years ago, his patients were mostly in their 60's, 70's and 80's. Exactly the patient population cardiologists expected to see. But over those 17 years two alarming trends have occurred, one I know you read about (or maybe ignore?) and see on TV.

First, the age of his patients has gone steadily down. It has not been unusual lately for him to treat patients with their first heart attacks who are younger than he is - in their 40's, 30's and even 20's! No, these patients don't have some unusual problem. They smoke, don't exercise and are over weight. It's sad to think that middle age for a growing segment of America's population could mean 14 or 20. Think about it - if you have your first heart attack at 28, your life will be cut severely short unless you take steps to correct the problems.

Another alarming trend is that weight gain has gone steadily up. Make no mistake, these trends are closely related. Weight gain, especially around the waist, leads to heart disease as well as other diseases like diabetes. My husband sees patients every day who are overweight by 50 to 100 pounds or more.

We can talk about health care reform all we want but your good health is largely in your own hands. Please take your health and that of your children seriously. Don't wait until you have serious health problems. Start eating better today and get off the couch and get moving! Ditch the cigarettes and do something else with that money. You'll be glad you did.

I'm Back!

After the summer break, I'm finally back to writing. I didn't intend to stop but I was swamped with my children's summer sports schedule. While I stopped writing, I didn't give up on healthy eating or exercising and I hope you didn't either. I swam, lifted light weights, walked or did dance aerobics at least five days a week. We ate fresh vegetables and lighter meals.
Buying the farmer's weekly fresh produce was an adventure because I never knew exactly what I'd be getting. It forced me to try some things I might not have and to be creative with the things I received an excess of, like watermelon and peaches.
I'm including two recipes my family has particularly enjoyed and believe me, the watermelon salad is wonderful despite how odd it sounds.

Banana Peach Buttermilk Smoothie
2 large ripe bananas, sliced and frozen
2 cups frozen sliced peaches
1 cup fat free buttermilk
1/4 cup orange juice
1 TBsp. honey
Process all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Serve immediately. Makes about 4 cups.
Cultured dairy products such as buttermilk and yogurt help maintain a healthy digestive system. We often eat this as a dessert.

Tomato and Watermelon Salad
5 cups seeded watermelon cubes
1 1/2 lbs. ripe tomatoes, cubed
3 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 small red onion, quartered and thinly sliced
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
Pepper to taste
Put watermelon and tomatoes in a large bowl, sprinkle with sugar and salt, tossing to coat. Let stand 15 minutes.
Stir in onion, vinegar, and oil. Cover and chill 2 or more hours. Sprinkle with pepper before serving.
Trust me, this is good and I have never served it to anyone who didn't love it. The key is good watermelon and tomatoes.