Apple-Carrot Soup

Apple picking inspired a lot of desserts- but I felt I should also make something a bit more healthy out of the apples - so I found a recipe for apple carrot soup and adapted it.
Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoon(s) margarine or butter
• 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
• 4 medium Golden Delicious apples - roughly peeled and chopped (I used Junga-golds -- my soup was really sweet-you could probably cut this down to 3 apples.)
• 2 pound(s) carrots, peeled and chopped  (I cheated and used a bag of frozen carrot coins)
• 1 pound butternut squash, peeled and chopped  (Used a bag of frozen)
• 5 cups chicken or vegetable broth  (This is used from scratch broth I made)
• 1 tablespoon(s) brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon(s) peeled and grated fresh ginger (I admit I just used ground)
• salt and pepper to taste (I used fresh cracker black pepper and NuSalt)
• Fresh chives for garnish

1. Melt butter or margarine in a dutch oven over medium - high heat.
2. Add in onions and cook until soft (About 10 minutes).
3. Add in apples, carrots, squash, broth, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat and cover. Simmer for about 30 minutes.

  5. Once Carrots and squash are tender, use an emersion blender to blend until smooth.

Serve with fresh chives for a garnish. Bon appetite!

Semi-Homemade

I went to Trader Joe’s today and tried their sample of Schezuan beef and broccoli  - it was so delicious (And I was rather hungry) so I bought a bag.

The nutrition facts were less than desirable with 430 calories a serving, 13 grams of fat, 1400 mg sodium, and sugar being one of the main ingredients. But, alas, I always like to believe in “everything in moderation”  - so I decided I could use it as part of a dinner entrée.

 

I marinated a block of extra firm tofu in

·      Trader Joe’s Low sodium Soyaki sauce (~2 tablespoons)

·      1 Tablespoon lime juice

·      sprinkle of ginger

In the microwave I cooked up

·      1 bag of frozen mixed oriental vegetables

·      4 medium carrots, chopped (I bought a 5 pound bag of carrots hence why every recipe I will be posting is likely heavy on the carrots)

After the tofu marinated for about an hour, I sautéed it in a frying pan over medium-high heat.

Next, I prepared the TJ’s Schezuan beef and broccoli, per its cooking instructions, sautéing the beef in the frying pan, and microwaving the broccoli.

I like my veggies a little bit crispier so I added those to the frying pan after microwaving as well.

 

 

I then combined all ingredients in a pan and mixed in the Schezuan sauce

I also made some brown rice on the side.  And Tada!:

 

 

The brown rice adds in a whole grain, which is a great source of fiber, and provides more vitamins and minerals.

The tofu is a good source of plant protein, is lower in fat than many animal proteins (Such as the beef) and contains phytoestrogens which have been linked (when consumed in moderation) to decreased risk of cancer.

The vegetables are a great source of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and antioxidants. They are also low in calories and a good source of fiber.

Supper Club and Polenta Pizza

Some of my friends and I have form a "Sanity Supper Club" in which we meet once a week/ every other week at someones house and cook meals and have an awesome girls night.

I hosted this weeks dinner: and I made Polenta Pizza and had a salad bar!

This was admittedly the first time I cooked with polenta, so for the sake of not totally screwing it up I used Trader Joe's organic pre-made polenta in a tube.

In my head the plan was to roll out the polenta like dough, but it isn't as roll-able as I thought it would be. Since I wasn't sure how it would turn out I made some individual polenta pizza by cutting the loaf of polenta into circles

Individual polenta circles for individual pizzas

I also tried mashing some up, mostly using the heal of my hand, to press them together, which worked pretty well to create a larger 'crust' 

For the large Polenta Pizza I used: 

Sauteed red onion

portobello onion

spinach

fresh roasted red peppers 

Marinara sauce, (Trader Joes) jazzed up with some yellow onion and pizza seasoning

Mozzarella Cheese 

Goat Cheese

For the individual polenta pizzas I made a huge array using various toppings such as:

the ones listed above

fresh tomato

basil leaves

mozzarella

pesto sauce

The Pizza was served with the salad bar including:

romaine

baby spinach

red peppers

green peppers

mushrooms

tomatoes

carrots

peas

corn

salsa

hummus

raisins

dried cranberries

walnuts

cage free hard boiled eggs

goat cheese

And of course we celebrated with some wine (for the antioxidants of course)

Dinner time!

As usual, I’ve been a terrible blogger, but here is what I had for dinner tonight!

My internet has been down for the past few days, it has been terrible. Honestly, I wouldn’t care if I did not have so much school work that requires blackboard and other methods of reading/ communicating and passing things in online. Plus not getting to check my email is maddening.

So of course I have been taking trips to Starbucks, Gourmet, and other places with free wi-fi. The dilemma is then that I have to buy something (usually coffee), which then makes me have to pee a lot. Having had my purse stolen at a dining establishment before, I am very wary about leaving anything out, so every time I go to the bathroom I take my computer/ purse etc, which can become quite an annoyance.

Plus, the fact that it feels like it is -10* outside certainly is not motivating me to make any extra trips outside than I have to.

Salmon: Marinated in low sodium soy sauce and chili and garlic paste, and lemon juice broiled on low. 

Tofu: Extra firm, marinated in: soy sauce, chili and garlic paste, toasted sesame seed oil, honey. Baked. 

Spinach: Fresh bagged spinach cooked in the microwave.  No seasoning. 

Onion: Stir fried with olive oil and garlic powder. Mixed in with spinach.

Carrots: Whole, unpeeled, well-washed, steamed on the stove top. Seasoned with a little lemon juice.

Brown rice: (an afterthought) I decided maybe a grain would be nice at the last minute so I just threw in a bag of brown Minute Rice.

I actually ate dinner before the rice was done, but everything else was delicious! 

I ate by myself, but Jordan is usually starving when he comes home from work, and if I do not specifically put something out for him, he usually winds up eating cheese and crackers or cereal, so I took all of the work out of it for him and plated the food and everything.

Eating Healthy for the Busy Person

"If you need something done, give it to a busy person!"

Ah… how true it is. It does seem the more we have to do, the more we get done.

Of course, it's also easy to let certain things go when you are really busy, such as going to the gym and eating healthy.

So here's the key:

Plan

Prep

Do!

My professor always complains that people say they are either organized, or they are not. She states, "Organized people are organized because they take the time out of their day to get organized," which, in the end, saves time!

So:

- plan what kind of meals you want to make for the week.

- make a shopping list

- go to the grocery store

- at some point soon after going to the grocery store- take the time to prep any of the healthy food that requires effort that might later deter you from eating it.

If you set out to chop/ peel/ prep a bunch of stuff at once it takes much less time than going through the process each time you want to eat something. Plus, think of the time and energy you'll save on washing the knives, vegetable peeler, and cutting board.

I personally go through this process not only because I am busy, but because Jordan is lazy, and I know he will not bother to use vegetables if they are not ready to be used.

Last week at the grocery store I bought a 5 pound bag of carrots for $1.99! but of course, whole carrots require a bit more effort than baby carrots, so I took the time after I went shopping to peel and cut them up.

Along with a bag of green peppers, I cut up a few into strips to be used for whatever my heart desired at the moment. They can always be chopped smaller later on if desired.

It also seems we are more likely to go through fruit in our house if it is cut up and mixed together (in this case, apples, bananas, plums and nectarines are all pretty easy to eat anyway, but I do enjoy the variety. It works even better if there is something that required cutting up such as a melon.

Then finally- once I am all done prepping I stick it all in the fridge in tupperware for easy access and quick meal making throughout the week :)

My boyfriend's bento

Jordan is the antagonist in my plot to encourage healthy eating. No matter how many little tid bits I give him, or healthy-yet delicious foods I attempt to expose him to, he still insists he must eat the fattening foods he loves because he will not give up "flavor"

I have tried introducing him to new flavors, and incorporating his beloved flavors in a healthier fashion, yet, he still makes dietary decisions to make any dietitian/ health conscience individual cringe.

I have always said the main reason I want children is so I can feed them - which probably isn't the true main reason, but I do enjoy feeding people/ preparing them food, and getting them to eat healthy. So, I am using Jordan as my 'practice child' and I prepare his lunch for work most days.

I love Lunch in a Box blog about a mothers journey of preparing speedy-adorable bentos for her son, so I got inspired and bought a bento box. - as the baker I used to work for used to say "If it looks good on the plate, it tastes good going into the mouth."

So here is one sample of Jordan's Bento box:

* turkey sandwich: whole wheat bread, turkey, lettuce, cucumber, sauteed onion and pepper.

* carrots with hummus

* a cut up plum and nectarine

* reduced fat wheat thins with thinly slices cheddar cheese

* unsalted, dry roasted peanuts

* and a granola bar.

Sure, it's only one meal, but I am making healthy changes to that boy- one meal at a time :) And as per usual-- encouraging frugality, since we're saving money by packing lunched rather than going out and buying them every day.

Wrong Side of the Bed

Today I woke up in an unnecessarily bitter mood.

Jordan had slept over and had trouble sleeping, and then woke up on the wrong side of the bed, and as the saying goes "misery loves company" so he took me along for a grumpy morning.

Once he was gone, I was faced with a mountain of dishes in the sink, and dishes I had previously washed piled up in the drying rack. Some of these were mine of course, but being in a grumpy mood, I washed them all while bantering madly to myself of how I always get stuck doing everything around the house, when I am the one that has the most to do! Geez I just took the trash and recycling out last night too, and cleaned the bathroom which looks like crap again because Sookie likes to throw litter!

I then took the feminist approach and assumed the boys were leaving all of the house work for me to do because I am the only girl and clearly they must think I am only good for domestic purposes.

After settling down from my pity-party, I comforted myself with a nice breakfast of left over
home-made cottage potatoes (aka homefries :P ) and my last egg, over-easy, with some ketchup and a cup or 3 of Pumpkin Spice coffee. I think its the cold, but I have been craving really "breakfasty" breakfasts lately.




After breakfast I headed out to Framingham to get some school work done and go to class. I brought an apple and nutrigrain bar as some brain food.


Despite my snacking I was definitely in need of some more substantial lunch when I got home. I mixed up some more left over Spaghetti + mixture of frozen veggies + Vegan Chili, and some extra spaghetti sauce, and then added some 50% reduced fat Cabot Cheddar Cheese (currently on sale at Shaws.)

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In the mix: Broccoli, Asparagus, Green Peppers, and carrots... I wish I had a few other colors in there, but the chili livened up the mix.
+

+
Vegan Chili
(Its always frozen come photo-op time!)

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Nomnomnom. It was very good.

I may have snacked on a mini bag of popcorn with chocolate chips and raisins while watching "Charlie Bartlett" and cleaning the apartment (SEE!! AGAIN!)

Tonight I am heading to Gloucester so it I wait that long to eat I'll just go get to steal J.'s food, a rare and exciting treat :)


And just to confirm, I am no longer bitter, and am in a much better mood, and now off to take my Sports Nutrition Quiz!