Home-Cooked Meals Made Easy

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Recently I was chatting with a friend of mine about how stressful it can be to cook when you are gone to work all day.  You don’t have to be a gourmet to enjoy the health benefits of eating home cooked meals, nor does it have to take hours of your already busy day.  Here are a few time saving menu tips. 

Frozen bread loaves or rolls. 

• They have whole wheat and white and if you keep some in your freezer, you can pull some out in the morning, put them in a greased pan in your fridge, then when you get home from school, pull them out of the fridge, and when they look nicely raised, preheat your oven to 375 and 30 minutes later or so, you have fresh bread. 

• If a loaf is too much for the two of you to eat, then try tossing 4 or 5 rolls into a loaf pan and letting it raise.  I might be a bit of a bumpy looking loaf, but will be just as tasty. 

• You could also just put them in a pie tin and let them raise as separate rolls. 

•  Also, you could put some rolls in the fridge in the morning, then after school, roll them out flat, and make individual pizzas.  This really is super easy – a bottle of pizza sauce lasts quite a while in the fridge, you can keep grated cheese and pepperoni in the freezer, and pull some out, sprinkle on your mini pizza dough and bake at 425 for 15 – 20 minutes.  You can even open a can of sliced olives, and keep the rest in the freezer, as well as pineapple tidbits and Canadian bacon.  

Pre-made pizza crust

• For the times when you don’t want to roll out and deal with pizza dough, keep a boboli in the freezer.  Pizza is a great way to use leftovers: leftover taco fixings become Mexican pizza, leftover barbeque chicken = bbq chicken pizza, leftover bacon = blt pizza.  

Crockpot with leftovers planned into the menu

• Pot roast with carrots, onions and potatoes is a great meal, but don’t chuck the leftovers.  Before you put that clean crockpot away, add some tomato juice, a bay leaf, a rinsed can of white or navy beans, maybe some pearl barley and a little beef broth.  Put that on low while you’re at work and come home to a hearty soup.

• Toss some chicken breasts or tenders into the crockpot with your favorite barbeque sauce.  When you get home, add some fruit and a salad and you’ve got a great meal.  When cleaning up dinner, shred that chicken and put in the fridge for the day after tomorrow (you may not want 2 BBQ meals back to back).  Pull a pre-made pizza crust out of the freezer before work.  When you get home, top with BBQ sauce, shredded chicken, some frozen corn and Monterey Jack or mozzarella cheese.  Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes.  Serve with a salad and you’ve got a delicious meal with very little effort.  

Salad Spinner

• I’m not one to go for every kitchen gadget know to man (mostly because I don’t have the space).  But the salad spinner can be a very healthful gadget.  Whether you are buying a bag of salad, or harvesting your own from your garden, the salad spinner not only helps clean and dry the salad, but it is a great storage solution that will allow you to eat salad all week.   

• Salad stays fresh for days and you can just pull some out to add to any meal.  For example: Monday you might want taco salad.  Keep the leftover greens in the salad spinner and the next day you can add a side salad to your crockpot chicken menu.  Maybe the following day you can have a salad-topped pizza (another use of the pre-made pizza crust).  And to use up the last of your salad, it might go into BLT wraps the following night. 

So for the someone trying to eat at home 3-4 times per week, the grocery list might look something like this:

            Bag of salad

            Bag of baby carrots

            1 container cherry tomatoes

            Couple (depending on family size) potatoes

            1 onion

            In season melon or fruit of choice

            1 package chicken tenders or chicken breasts (depending on family size)

            Small roast or small pot roast

          1 bottle barbeque sauce
          1 bottle salad dressing

1 can reduced sodium white or navy beans

1 can tomato juice or 1 can crushed tomatoes

2 cans reduced sodium beef broth

            1 premade pizza crust

            1 bag frozen whole wheat rolls (dough, not baked)

            1 bag shredded mozzarella cheese

            1 bag frozen corn

The menu & recipes would look something like this:

            Monday: BBQ chicken, salad, fruit & rolls

In the morning (3-5 minutes) – Turn the crockpot on high, put the chicken in the crock pot and pour ½ the bottle of bbq sauce over chicken.   Put rolls onto greased pie tin and place in fridge.  Before leaving for work, turn crockpot down to low. 

After work – set out rolls, preheat oven to 375.  When preheated, bake rolls for 20 – 25 minutes. Wash and spin bagged lettuce, wash cherry tomatoes and wash and slice melon (or fruit of choice).  Serve with chicken.  After dinner, shred the remaining chicken before putting in the fridge.

            Tuesday: Pot roast with rolls and fruit

In the morning (10-15 minutes) – Turn the crockpot on low, peel and cut onion into wedges, scrub and cut potatoes into large pieces.  Layer potatoes, ½ bag baby carrots, onion and top with roast.  Pour 1 can beef broth over, cover and let cook on low.  Set out rolls as before.

After work – Preheat oven, and bake rolls at 375 for 20 minutes.  Pull out fruit and serve with rolls and pot roast.  After dinner, shred pot roast before putting in the fridge.

            Wednesday: BBQ chicken pizza

In the morning – nothing!

After work – Preheat oven to 425.  Pull out premade pizza crust, spread with barbeque sauce, top with shredded chicken, some frozen corn and mozzarella cheese.  Bake 15-20 minutes until cheese is bubbly and pizza is hot.  Meanwhile, pull out the salad, top with cherry tomatoes slice or grate baby carrots.  Serve with pizza. 

            Thursday: Tomato beef and bean soup, breadsticks

In the morning (10 minutes) – set out rolls in a plastic bag and place in fridge.  Turn crockpot on low, add leftover pot roast & veggies, drained and rinsed beans, some frozen corn (maybe ½ cup depending on family size), can of beef broth and can crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce.  You can toss in a bay leaf, and black pepper or other seasonings according to your preference.  Cover.

After work – take roll dough out of fridge, roll each roll out into a long rope and place on a greased baking sheet.  Preheat oven to 375.  Bake breadsticks 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve with soup and any leftover fruit or salad. 

 There are certainly more ideas out there, but the point is to just start with something that will make eating at home a more convenient, delicious and healthy part of your routine. 

Caramel & Apple - Best Culinary Duo Ever!

There really seems to be something to the old adage, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away." It's amazing the amount of health benefits found in one of nature's most modest fruits.  I can't think of a flavor combination that I enjoy more than caramel and apples.  Plus, any time you can work a fruit into dessert, you're getting a bit more nutrition.  September seems to be the kick-off month for this autumnal delicacy, so I thought post my top 5 favorite caramel apple recipes.  

#5 Caramel Apple Cheesecake.  I am a cheese cake lover and so this is a natural canvas for most any of my favorite flavors.  Plus, this one is a Cooking Light recipe, so it is a bit on the lighter side. http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/caramel-apple-cheesecake-10000001835295/

#4 Caramel Apple Muffins.  Let me preface this recipe by saying I do tweak it a bit.  I use whole wheat flour instead of white flour and 1% milk instead of 2%.  It is definitely more of a sweet treat for breakfast, but works well when paired with an egg and some fruit.  http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Caramel-Apple-Muffins

#3 Apple Fritter Rings.  Yes, this one is fried.  I'm a dietitian and I eat fried foods occasionally and thoroughly enjoy them.  I really like these after a nice fall hike.  Granted, they don't have any caramel, but if you want to go all out - a light drizzle of caramel sauce would be a tasty touch.  Since I hate to fry foods (it seems like such extra work and mess), I don't make these often.  But you can bet that I get them at least once in the fall.  http://www.marthastewart.com/868726/apple-fritter-rings

#2 Green Apple Frozen Yogurt or Sorbet with Caramel Sauce.  You can bet that I keep a sharp eye out at my favorite frozen yogurt shops for the appearance of Green Apple.  A little dish of that with a light drizzle of caramel sauce and I'm in heaven!  However, in the process of composing this post, I came across a green apple sorbet recipe that I most definitely will have to try.  Then I won't have to wait 11 months to have it again.  http://www.food.com/recipe/green-apple-sorbet-206436

#1 Caramel Apples.  Yep - my all-time favorite is plain-jane caramel apples.  Sometimes I make the lovely yet hard-to-eat variety on a stick, but most of the time it is a bowl full of caramel next to a bowl full of cut up apples.  You can eat it fondue-style or fill your own bowl.  Nothing tastes more like fall to me. 

I love the using foil muffin papers for my caramel apples.  These are sprinkled with chopped almonds, cinnamon candies, toasted coconut or mini chocolate chips. 

So here's my quick, easy, no-fail recipe for microwave caramel.

7 Minute Caramel Recipe
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
Place all ingredients in a large microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.  If the consistency isn't perfectly smooth after cooking, use a hand-held, stick blender and viola!  Velvety, caramel yumminess!

Demystifying the Milk Question

The majority of milk consumed in this country remains cow's milk.  However, milk alternatives are more prolific and popular than ever.  So how does one go about deciding which milk to drink? Hopefully this infographic helps you navigate to the choice that is right for you.  Remember when all is said and done, it comes down to taste.  If you don't like the taste, you won't drink it and all the nutrition information becomes irrelevant.

Camping Food: Tasty Convenience

I took my kids camping this past weekend and the food was a highlight.  Not only was it tasty, but a lot of fun to cook as well.  I made a big batch of breakfast burritos (inspired by my sister Sandi's recipe) and kept them in a cooler to be pulled out and tossed in the coals each morning for a heartier breakfast than plain cold cereal, mini-boxes.

Fill flour tortillas with scrambled eggs, cooked sausage crumbles, hashbrowns, cheese and salsa if you like a little zip.  Roll them up into small burritos and wrap in foil. 

Toss them into some hot coals to reheat.

Yum!

Another camping hit was a variation on the biscuit-on-a-stick idea.  We bought refrigerator cinnamon rolls (the kind in a can) and roasted them on skewers over the fire and they were delicious!  Made for a great addition to breakfast or as a dessert over the campfire. 

A two-tined roasting stick worked well to hold the spiral rolls in place.

They were done after a few minutes over hot coals.

Drizzle with frosting and Yum!

The Art of After-school Snacking

Remember the story of Goldilocks - too small, too big, just right?  That is the goal when it comes to after-school snacking.  I remember coming home from high school and eating an entire quart of peaches (ah the joys of teenage metabolism), but one or two peach halves for my grade schooler may be too much.  So let me throw out a couple guidelines when it comes to after school snacking:

• Keep it snack sized.  This obviously changes as your child grows, and may vary quite a bit from day to day as their appetite waxes and wanes.  But try to teach your child that a snack is just that - not a meal.  You should eat enough just to take the hunger away, not enough to feel full.   That way, they aren't hitting the pantry all afternoon, and they will be hungry again for dinner.  Remind them that they should be hungry again in a couple hours when it comes time for family dinner. 
• Think beyond treats.  If we are to get in 9 servings of fruits and veggies each day, or follow the Choose My Plate guidelines, we should make half of our snacks fruits and veggies as well as our meals.  I generally let my kids choose their own snacks if they approve it with me, but I always let them know that the crackers, or the granola bar are fine as long as they eat a fruit or veggie with it.  
• Add protein for those extra hungry tummies.  A spoonful of peanut butter, a piece of cheese or even some nuts can add that little bit of protein that active kids need to get them through gymnastics or soccer practice.  Even a glass of milk with their snack can do the trick.  The protein will sustain them longer than just carbohydrates will.
• Stock up on smart snack options.  Whole-wheat english muffins, crackers or bread that provides 3 or more grams of fiber per serving will generally let you work some whole-grain servings into snack time.  Replace the cookie jar with a fruit bowl.  Keep fruits, veggies and water visible and handy.  Choose higher-fiber, lower-sugar cereals on hand for a great go-to snack.  Add in some fresh fruit and viola!

The internet is full of darling, cutesy, snack ideas for those willing to put the extra time and effort in.  But when it comes down to it, sitting down to listen to your child's day over a bowl of nuts and some grapes probably shows more love on an emotional and healthful level than the cutest cut-out cookies ever will. 

Packing Smarter: A Better Brown Bag Lunch

Back to school time is here and not only does that bring a flurry of shopping for clothes and school supplies, but for school lunch fodder as well.  So how can you best encourage your child to pack a better home-lunch?  Try a few of these tips to keep those brown-bag contents out of the cafeteria trash can:

• Child input - take your child shopping with you, or at least ask them what they would like to have in their lunch boxes.  If they choose it, they are less likely to chuck it. 
• Be reasonable - try to balance health, nutrition and taste.  Just because my kids ask for a pre-packaged lunch kit from the store doesn't mean that I pack it for them routinely.  Instead, I try to encourage them to take something from each food group, and include some kind of treat or dessert item.  
• Watch portion size - kids are often overwhelmed by adult portion sizes and refuse to eat any because it looks so overwhelming.  For example, you may grab 10-12 baby carrots for your lunch serving, but that may overwhelm a 7 year-old.  So ask your child how many carrots they think they'd eat at lunch and use that as a guide.  For my 10 year-old daughter, more than 7 or 8 small or 4 - 5 bigger baby carrots is doable.  
• Balance convenience foods with whole foods - fun, prepackaged, snack sizes of crackers, dried fruits and other lunch items are fun to add into a lunch, but try to keep a balance of whole foods and processed foods.  For example: Sandwich (or half sandwich for smaller tummies), a bag of carrots & grapes, small snack-bag of crackers and a square of chocolate or cookie, milk or water.
• Be beverage aware - milk or water are the best beverage options.  Milk provides protein, calcium and vitamin D, and water is always the go-to beverage.  Juices or punch add empty calories and extra sugar, so save those for once-in-a-while occasions.  
• Think outside the sandwich - not everyone can eat, or wants to eat a sandwich at lunch.  Slightly outside that sandwich-box is the idea of wraps, or quesadilla type lunch items.  Other options that lie a bit farther outside that sandwich-box, are crackers and cheese, or even a bag of dry cereal.  Cereals that are high in fiber and low in sugar make a healthy main dish in a lunch bag.  It lasts a long time, doesn't need to be refrigerated and kids love finger food.  Pair it with some milk, veggies, and dried fruit and you've got a great lunch for picky eaters.   

Remember that kids portions sizes are smaller than adults - sometimes half the normal size depending on the age of the child.  Involve them in packing their own lunches and get their feedback on how their lunch went.  You might find that they need a little more or less of one thing or another.  The more feedback they give, the better chance you'll have to keep them from throwing away your food at lunch time.

I keep stacking drawers in my basement with lunch packing supplies.  They can choose a couple convenience items (crackers or applesauce) to add to their lunches.

Don't over-stuff your snack bags with produce - sometimes less is more when it comes to getting them to eat fruits and veggies.

Food & Emotion vs. Emotional Eating

Saturday morning I decided to put our initials into the pancakes forming our family's acronym with a special pancake love note for my husband.

Most of us understand that there are dangers associated with emotional eating.  However, emotional eating is distinct and separate from evoking emotion with food.  With emotional eating, healthy coping skills are lacking and food is used as an emotional salve, emotional numbing agent, or even a substitute therapist. 

Evoking emotions with food is a hallmark of good culinary culmination.  Chicken soup that is so hearty and soothing it transports you back in time to your grandma's kitchen, or eating a salad of heirloom tomatoes that have such vibrant flavor it takes you back to a warm August afternoon are just a few examples.  Food nourishes us in many ways, and nutritionally is just one.  Food also nourishes and sustains us in cultural, familial and historical ways.  So don't be afraid to communicate some emotion with food whether it be a love note written on a pancake, or passing on a favorite recipe to a friend.  In fact, the more we accept this connection, the less we will be tempted to abuse food with unhealthy, disconnected, emotional eating. 

Stay tuned for more info on my upcoming class series on healing the relationship with food.